Class action suit filed against draftkings and Fanduel
 

Class action lawsuit filed against DraftKings and FanDuel

A class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday accusing DraftKings and FanDuel of negligence, fraud and false advertising.

The case was brought by Adam Johnson of Kentucky, who says he deposited $100 into a DraftKings account.

The suit claims that daily fantasy games put forth by the two companies are misrepresented as fair. That case is made mainly through the recently revealed policies of the two companies that allowed employees to enter contests on the other's site for cash prizes, along with the rest of the population.

"DraftKings performs analytics to determine winning strategies, return on investment of certain strategies and even how lineups on FanDuel would do if they were entered into DraftKings contests," the suit alleges.

With these strategies potentially available to some employees, those employees could have a potential advantage by playing on a competitor's site.

FanDuel spokesperson Justine Sacco told ESPN.com earlier in the week that DraftKings employees have won 0.3 percent of the money FanDuel has awarded in its entire history. With a ballpark figure of $2 billion awarded so far, that's around $6 million. It is not known how much those DraftKings employees spent on entry fees.

DraftKings co-founder Paul Liberman said at a conference last month at Babson College that some of the company's employees made more off other fantasy sites than their salaries at DraftKings.

Representatives from both DraftKings and FanDuel said their companies would have no comment on the litigation.

The suit names DraftKings and FanDuel as defendants. The suggested class is specified as only people who put money in a DraftKings account before Oct. 6 and competed in a contest where employees of other daily fantasy companies participated.

Both sites said this week they would permanently ban the practice of employees competing on the competitor's site, or any other daily fantasy site.

This came after a DraftKings employee's posting of player roster percentages and his subsequent $350,000 take in a FanDuel contest raised questions about inside information.

One prevailing thought is that if a person had access to how many people selected certain players on rosters before those rosters were locked, they would have an edge. This is because top prizes are often won by individuals with a player who appears on fewer rosters but comes through with a big game.

DraftKings said its own investigation of that employee, Ethan Haskell, found that Haskell didn't have access to advantageous information before he entered his lineup on FanDuel that week.

While there is concern from the public, thus far neither company has said it has found any employee who had access to information that specifically provided him or her an advantage in a contest.

Both FanDuel and DraftKings also announced this week the hiring of third-party consultants to look into potential impropriety and review practices within the companies.

Forgot link - http://espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/...se-advertising

Timing is everything

God bless the attorney with no shame.

Guy deposits $100 and sues. Wastes years of his life to get $10, attorney makes $100,000,000.

Ethan Haskell has to be related to Eddie.

Yeah, we know how this story ends. The victims of the fraud will get a $2 coupon as a settlement so they can get ripped off again, and the lawyers will collect their fees at a full hourly rate with unmonitored hours.

Lol what a joke.

Can I sue the Taj Mahal? I have this sneaky suspicion that they stack the odds against me when I'm gambling.

Wrong Indians bro

'How to **** up a good thing', chapter 1.

geez...no one employed by these companies should be allowed to be eligible to compete. Period. Dont like it...quit, then win.

General saying is usually the only real winners in a class action recovery is the firm representing the class. However, I somehow managed to get around $200 back from participating in a class action suit which was amusingly about being overcharged for bar prep courses.

What turned everyone against these companies is their relentless ads.
It's really quite amazing to see how advertising can go wrong.

It'll reduce the player pool for a week, 2 max. People are hooked on this shit and want to be the next guy in the commercials. The guy who filed the suit will get like 25k, players will get a free entry to a sunday millions 25 dollar game, and the attorney will get PAID. Unmitigated paid. As has already been posted. And this will all be finalized in 2019. There's my prediction.

http://i.imgur.com/0jB5x6t.jpg

Will probably win. How can you run a business like this and have no policy against using insider information for financial gain?

Even if they do win, the damages will be extremely small. We're talking about a few million in a business where billions are put in.

If this class action lawsuit succeeds, I assume the lawyer will pocket a couple million for his work, and I'll get an e-mail telling me I'm eligible for a $5 credit on my account and a free entry into this week's super-mega millionaire maker event.

I'm sure. But do you really think the overall damages will be small? Its basically legalized gambling. This is basically insider trading. Anyone on this site is gambling with the expectation that the system is fair. And they could have easily avoided this by simple employee policy.

Yes, I do. Based on what we've heard so far, its probably a few guys who were wildly successful through inside knowledge, but that is still not going to amount to much compared to the river of money that flows through their sites.

Anything that ****s over those two companies is ok by me.

Apparently, it didn't even do that.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...t-weekend-ever

Of course not, too many people are winning money. And not just the so called gambling pros. Everyday Joes are doing a decent job if you have any skill in it. Are you going to win every time? No, but they are doing better than just normal gambling or powerballs.

People want to gamble on football and this is the best way to do it. Even though the average fan loses 80% of the time there is still a lot of growth to be had.

This for sure! :rolleyes:

Yes. Less $$$ for them to spend on totally ghey commercials.. They surely have to TRY to make their commercials look that ghey right?

DT

Fantasy sports site makes first lobbying hire as scrutiny grows

By David McCabe - 10/12/15 11:47 AM EDT

Daily fantasy sports website FanDuel started working with a Washington lobbyist days after a Democrat on a congressional committee called for hearings into the website’s controversial business model, records show.

James D. Barnette, a partner at law firm Steptoe & Johnson, and public policy staffer Lisa Mortier registered to lobby for the site this month. The firm is FanDuel’s first outside lobbying hire.


The pair's registration form says that they have been working for the website since September 17, 2015. That was just three days after Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called for hearings into the daily fantasy sports industry and its relationship with professional sports leagues.

Critics like Pallone contend that the services, which allow users to win money based on the performance of a virtual team in a single day’s sports contests as opposed to over the course of a season, constitute gambling and should be subject to tighter regulations.

Barnette is a former aide to the committee and served as general counsel under its current chairman, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). Upton said in September that daily fantasy sports were “an issue that we ought to take a look at,” but that a hearing was unlikely to take place anytime soon.

Washington’s scrutiny of the daily fantasy sports industry has increased since Pallone’s call for a hearing in September.

It was revealed this month that an employee of DraftKings who had access to game data won $350,000 in a contest on FanDuel. The sites say he didn’t use the data to improve his chances on FanDuel, but the ensuing scandal led both services to permanently ban their employees from playing with their competitors. It also triggered a new round of questions from policymakers about the industry.

Pallone and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) have both called for a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the websites in light of the allegations.

“These reports raise serious questions about the integrity of these online fantasy sports websites, and it raises the question of whether there are sufficient consumer and competition safeguards to protect the integrity of these online games,” they wrote to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.

The House Judiciary Committee is also looking into the two websites.

DraftKings has yet to make any lobbying hires in Washington, according to disclosure records. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association, which represents the industry, has worked with outside lobbying firms in the past.

The websites are the two biggest players in a growing industry whose ads are a constant presence during the commercial breaks of major sporting events. Both are valued at more than a billion dollars and have attracted investments from professional teams and broadcasters.

http://thehill.com/policy/technology...ional-scrutiny

It is a lot easier to beat regular people than Vegas, that's for sure.

Nevada gaming officials block fantasy sports sites

Nevada regulators are ordering fantasy sports websites in their state to stop operations until they obtain gaming licenses.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board said the websites, including companies DraftKings and FanDuel, should be treated as gambling operations.

"I, along with Board staff, have concluded that [daily fantasy sports] constitutes gambling under Nevada law," said A.G. Burnett, the board's chairman, in a letter posted on the agency's website.

Nevada is home to many legal gambling operations, and its treatment of fantasy sports websites would set an influential precedent across the nation. The news was first reported by The New York Times.
The move comes just one day after reports that the FBI and Justice Department are investigating daily fantasy sports sites to see if they violate any federal laws.

The fantasy sites have been under intense scrutiny after it was revealed that an employee of DraftKings made $350,000 on a rival site and also disclosed key data on customers' picks. That led to concerns about insider trading-type behavior, though the companies have denied any wrong doing.

Online fantasy sites have been able to operate because of an exemption from the federal law that bars many forms of online gambling. They are treated as games of skill rather than gambling, but critics have questioned that treatment.

The American Gaming Association said they welcomed the decision in a statement Thursday.

“The casino gaming industry has repeatedly called for greater legal clarity on daily fantasy sports. We appreciate that the Nevada Gaming Control Board has provided that clarity as well as a roadmap for [daily fantasy sports] companies and casinos to provide popular fantasy sports within Nevada borders," the group said.

"We will continue to seek additional clarity in other jurisdictions, as eliminating ambiguity is in the best interests of all parties, including consumers.”

http://thehill.com/policy/technology...y-sports-sites

Protect the Hive!

On the part of Nevada? Definitely. The congressional and FBI inquiries are another matter though. I'll be surprised if they don't take them down as they are obviously online gambling.

Nice

I wonder if they would have just kept low key and not advertised with every other commercial during every NFL game if they could have just kept on going.