New York State attorney general Eric Schneiderman has ruled that fantasy football companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings must cease and desist operation in New York. Because of New York's historic role in consumer protection this ruling may spread into other jurisdictions. According to the New York Times, Mr. Schneiderman said:
“It is clear that DraftKings and FanDuel are the leaders of a massive, multibillion-dollar scheme intended to evade the law and fleece sports fans across the country,” adding, “Today we have sent a clear message: not in New York, and not on my watch.”
Fantasy football is a wildly popular multbillion dollar industry and New York State is said to have 500,000 active players. The attorney general said that it "appears to be creating the same public health and economic problems associated with gambling." Of course he failed to point out that whereas fantasy football is competitive and has a high payout ratio, the New York state Lottery is a monopoly and has a much lower payout. Plus it is sanctioned by the state creating a much worse moral hazard, especially for the poor.
The above originally appeared at Mises.org.
"fleece sports fans"
ReplyDeleteYes, only the state is allowed to fleece people. The corruption of language by statists drives me crazy sometimes. "Fleece" connotes a swindling, people who play fantasy football know exactly what they are getting into-
The State is truly the swindler by promising things they can't/don't deliver in justifying taxation. (aside from the immorality of wealth confiscation/theft and the fact that fantasy football is voluntary)
I love fantasy football- my brother runs a league with a bunch of friends and we've been playing over a decade now. It's cheap fun.
Sure, FanDuel & Draftkings took it to another level, but to each their own. It's amazing that pols are even spending time on this...if it wasn't for the revenue generated by it, pols wouldn't even care. They just want their payoff.
This is terrible. They want to maintain the gambling only in Las Vegas and I am sure that nowadays of an information era they will find another way to get to the customers. I love fantasy football ever since I learned about it from daily fantasy football lineups. I have been following the development of the scandal in the recent months ever since. I hope they don't stop fantasy in other states.
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