New York Set to Legalise DFS Websites

Leading daily fantasy sports operators could finally hear some good news after ongoing problems in various states as New York is nearing closer to regulating the DFS market.

The state regulators are in advanced talks over DFS legislation and a conditional bill that would legalise daily fantasy sports websites appears on the horizon.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been conducting an investigation into leading operators DraftKings and FanDuel, after their employees were accused of misusing player data.

Schneiderman was expected to send a cease and desist letter to both operators, but the largest DFS companies have contested the injunction and appear to have succeeded in their quest.

Namely, after months of legal battles, DraftKings and FanDuel agreed to stop offering their services to New York residents in order to allow the state legislators to try and come up with a legal framework that would regulate the daily fantasy websites.

New Bill is in the Works

They are currently in the process of drafting a bill that is designed to deal with employee practices, underage restrictions, determine taxes on DFS revenue and allow operators to apply for gaming licences. At the same time, they plan to completely ban contests linked to college sports and all gaming promotions.

Senator John Bonacic plans to attach DFS legislation to Bill S6793A, and he obviously has full support of both DraftKings and FanDuel.

The Senate Finance Committee is set to hear Bonacic’s plans and the Senator hopes his proposal will enable quick implementation of DFS regulation.

It is not at all surprising that the press is closely following the daily fantasy sports battle in New York considering that the state has the largest DFS players pool with over 1.1 million participants, which accounts for almost 15 percent of the combined player base for DraftKings and FanDuel.

And even though certain states have already placed DFS websites in the illegal gambling category, the positive news from New York could very well compensate for the blows the two companies have suffered in recent months.