Inside Asian Gaming

November 2015 inside asian gaming 33 Gambling and the law players to put on his fantasy team. Now, prosecutors are looking into what other possible misconduct might have occurred. Worse, they are investigating whether DFS has violated state or federal anti-gambling statutes. At least one class action has been filed. I expect both government and private lawyers to look for more than just money. They will attempt to get courts to issue injunctions, closing down the sites. The timing of the US$350,000 DraftKings scandal could not have been worse. The Attorneys General of New York and Massachusetts, and apparently of at least three other states, were already investigating whether DFS violated any of their state laws. The scandal broke at the beginning of October. On Monday, October 5th, the New York Times ran a lead editorial entitled, “Rein In Online Fantasy Sports Gambling.” It also published a detailed, scathing investigative piece, with the not too subtle headline, “Cash Drops and Keystrokes: The Dark Reality of Sports Betting and Daily Fantasy Games.” Within three weeks bills were entered in Congress and state legislatures to outlaw DFS, at least one federal grand jury was convened, state attorneys general opened their own investigations and the FBI was called in. A manager of a multi-billion-dollar mutual fund cancelled a call he had scheduled with me to discuss investing in DFS. Big investors may want big profits. But they are scared to death of uncertainty. Even some of DFS’ allies were backing off. ESPN suspended branded segments featuring DraftKings during its news and information programs. The worry is more than mere public relations. If DFS is illegal gambling – which is by no means clear – then anyone associated with it could be facing serious federal and state criminal charges. Fighting potential sentences of years in prison and the confiscation of all profits arising from supposedly criminal activities would cost millions of dollars, even if the charges are eventually dropped. The problem for DFS sites and their associates is not the minor scandal of possible insider trading, or even allegations of cheating. The problem is that violations of gambling laws trigger all of the draconian statutes designed to fight organized crime. When Prohibition was repealed, organized crime, or OC as they call themselves, looked around for other illegal products and services that they could supply consumers. When you think of OC you naturally think of illegal drugs, prostitution and gambling. So both state legislatures and Congress passed numerous acts that “… during one week in September, DraftKings was the single biggest advertiser on television … DraftKings, FanDuel and their smaller competitors continue to spend enough to ‘move the needle’ on the total amount spent by all advertisers for all products and services throughout the entire United States.”