New York court allows daily sports fantasy websites to continue operating News
New York court allows daily sports fantasy websites to continue operating

The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court [official website] granted the two largest daily fantasy websites a stay on Monday allowing them to continue to operate within the state during their appeal. The appeal comes in a challenge from New York’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who claims that FanDuel and DraftKings [official websites] are illegal gambling operations that should cease operations within the state, give back the proceeds made within the state, and pay a fine. The panel of five judges sided [NYT report] with the daily fantasy websites, finding that forcing the companies to shut down during a lengthy appeal would cause “irreparable harm.” In December, an appellate court judge granted a temporary stay [JURIST report] to both FanDuel and DraftKings hours after a New York Judge ordered a temporary injunction demanding the companies cease operations within New York.

Gambling is heavily regulated federally and on the state level. In August 2012 a judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled [JURIST report] that a poker game operator could not be tried under a federal gambling law because poker is more a game of skill than a game of chance. In December 2011 the US Department of Justice clarified its stance on online gambling [JURIST report] in a memorandum opinion holding online non-sports related gambling that crosses state or international borders is not covered by the Wire Act of 1961. In November of that year, New Jersey passed Public Question 1 [JURIST report] by a 65 percent margin, amending the New Jersey constitution [text] to legalize sports gambling, but earlier this month professional and college sports leagues filed a lawsuit against the state [JURIST reports] seeking to enjoin the law as a violation of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

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