Judge won’t block NY action against fantasy sports sites

A judge decided Monday afternoon not to block New York’s attorney general from shutting down daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel in the state.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that his office had determined the games on the websites constituted illegal gambling and ordered them to stop taking bets.

Both sites filed lawsuits challenging Schneiderman and arguing that their games did not amount to gambling.

{mosads}In a separate move they also requested a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the attorney general from taking any action before the court rules on their cases.

The state judge though denied that request on Monday while also setting another hearing in the case for next Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

DraftKings claims New York’s attorney general has said he will not take action before Wednesday.

“The Court granted our order setting this case for an emergency hearing next Wednesday. The AG assured the Court he will take no action against DraftKings or its business partners before then,” said a DraftKings representative in a statement.

“On that record, and because there will be an emergency hearing next week, the Court determined that no TRO was necessary. We are confident in our legal position, and look forward to our day in court next week. As a result, we intend to continue operating in New York.”

The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The battle over fantasy sports in New York is becoming the biggest challenge for the growing industry at the state level. In many other states, legislators are considering regulations for the websites — which allow users to draft real-life players for virtual teams on a daily, rather than season-long, basis.

Several lawmakers in Washington have also called for regulation of the websites and for congressional hearings on the topic. The Justice Department is also reportedly probing the websites.

Critics say the websites are venues for sports gambling, while the companies argue their contests are really games of skill, not chance. Some have also raised concerns about how safe consumer data is on the platforms.