5 Key Takeaways | The Maze of Laws, Rules, and Regulations at the Intersection of Gambling, Gaming, Sports Betting, and Fantasy Sports
Fantasy Football: The Legal Reality
A crackdown on online "pick'em"-style contests in Florida could be a sign of what's to come as state regulators struggle to keep up with the rapidly changing world of daily fantasy sports and legalized sports wagering....more
On April 16, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court officially adopted the "predominate factor test" and ruled in Dew-Becker v. Wu (2020 IL 124472) that daily fantasy sports (DFS) are, in fact, games of skill, and therefore...more
The New York Appellate Division dealt a shocking blow to the fantasy sports industry by ruling earlier this month that daily fantasy sports contests are a form of gambling and that the law passed by New York in 2016...more
It is a legal maxim that arbitration is a creature of contract. A recent District of Massachusetts decision explores critical questions about when that creature can exist outside of the confines of a binding agreement to...more
Recently, the Seventh Circuit affirmed that fantasy sports operators, such as FanDuel and Draft Kings, do not violate a student athlete’s right of publicity under Indiana law by using their name, image and likeness without...more
Plaintiff-Appellants Akeem Daniels, Cameron Stingily, and Nicholas Stoner were collegiate student–athletes between 2014¬2016. Their on-field performances were collected as numerical statistics and published by various...more
Interactive fantasy sports (“IFS”) is a growing industry. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, Americans spend over $7 billion annually on IFS. And IFS’s appeal isn’t restricted to players—states like IFS for...more
On October 24, 2018, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that online fantasy sports operators, DraftKings, Inc. and FanDuel, Inc., were permitted to use former collegiate athletes’ names, pictures, and statistics without their...more
On July 13, 2017, daily fantasy sports providers DraftKings and FanDuel announced their decision to call off their proposed merger. Last month, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary...more
On June 20, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order blocking the daily fantasy sports (DFS) companies DraftKings and FanDuel from consummating their proposed...more
Although the Federal Trade Commission currently is short-handed with one Democrat and one Republican serving on the Commission (out of a normal lineup of five), today they showed that bi-partisan consensus still can exist in...more
On August 23, 2016, the two largest daily fantasy sports (“DFS”) operators, DraftKings and Fan Duel, will be presenting their proposed Nevada daily fantasy sports legislation (the “Proposed Bill”) to the Nevada Gaming Policy...more
Alabama and Tennessee have become the most recent states to weigh in on the legality of daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests. Last week, the attorneys general of the two states issued opinions declaring such contests to be...more
Welcome to Sheppard Mullin’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up, a quick list of the past week’s top news in the social media, gaming, and virtual goods and currencies industries curated by Social Media & Games Team. Here are some of the...more
There has been a new development in the ongoing legal battle between New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators DraftKings and FanDuel, as the two largest DFS operators agreed earlier...more
The new Virginia Fantasy Contests Act regulates consumer privacy on fantasy sports game websites, like DraftKings and FanDuel, and also requires fantasy sports companies to pay a licensing fee in Virginia to pay for the cost...more
In January, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion that daily fantasy sports (DFS) is likely illegal gambling under Texas state law “[b]ecause the outcome of games in daily fantasy sports leagues depends...more
Copper-Infused Apparel Company Settles With FTC for $1.4M - Tommie Copper, Inc. and company founder Thomas Kallish reached a deal with the Federal Trade Commission to settle charges that they misled consumers by claiming...more
On Thursday, December 10, 2015, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) held a daylong forum to educate the MGC commissioners, staff and the public on Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) and to inform the policy paper the MGC is...more
New York AG Asks Court to Bench DFS - In the continuing drama surrounding Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman responded to lawsuits by DraftKings and FanDuel by seeking a...more
Sharing Is Caring? New Report Documents Apps Sharing User Data at High Rates - A new report has revealed that Apple and Android apps share information with third parties at high rates. Testing 55 of the most popular...more
As the popularity of fantasy sports grows, so do the legal issues surrounding the industry. The main legal challenges facing fantasy sports have been centered on the issue of whether pay-to-play fantasy sports contests...more