FanDuel and DraftKings’ real-money services are out of New York until at least July
FanDuel and DraftKings will not operate real-money services to New York players until July at the earliest, following a settlement agreement that was reached between the daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators and the state’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman.
Should DFS not be made law by the state on or before 30 June, the ban will remain in place, but should DFS be legalised in the same time period, then the earliest the companies could resume operating in the state would be 1 July.
The operators have jointly moved the appellate division to adjourn the pending appeal on the issue to that court’s September term.
Schneiderman said: “As I’ve said from the start, my job is to enforce the law, and starting today, DraftKings and FanDuel will abide by it.”
DraftKings, which had not pulled real-money contests out of New York up to this point, said: “We are grateful to the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who have enjoyed playing fantasy sports on DraftKings for the last four years. We will continue to work with state lawmakers to enact fantasy sports legislation so that New Yorkers can play the fantasy games they love.”
In its own statement, FanDuel said: “While it is disheartening for us to restrict access to paid contests in our home state, we believe this is in the best interest of our company, the fantasy industry and our players while we continue to pursue legal clarity in New York.”
The agreement is the latest development to the legal saga, after the operators were granted a stay of injunction by a New York appellate court in December, allowing them to continue with real-money operations in the state, which came just hours after Justice Manuel Mendez of the New York Supreme Court had granted an injunction to ban the companies.
Schneiderman made the request for the injunction against FanDuel and DraftKings in November.
FanDuel had pulled out of the state before that December hearing, while DraftKings did not.
A press conference on the matter is scheduled for 2pm Eastern time today (Monday).
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