Another Twist in the Fantasy Lawsuit

Just over a month ago, the daily fantasy sports (DFS) lawsuit against FanDuel and DraftKings had begun and tensions between the company and its customers (fantasy sports players) were high after accusations of insider trading had surfaced. As of last week, a new twist that not even James Cameron or Steven Spielberg could have thought of has now been thrown into the mix. Two DFS employees have filed a lawsuit against over 50 companies that had invested into DFS companies or facilitated DFS gaming.  The logic behind the lawsuit is that these companies were investing and facilitating "illegal gambling" operations.  Per Sports Illustrated, the companies that are being sued include, but are not limited to:

• The National Basketball Association (NBA) , Major League Baseball Ventures (MLB), National Hockey League Ventures(NHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS)
• The Kraft Group (owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft), Legends Hospitality (co-owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the New York Yankees), and MSG Sports and Entertainment (owned by New York Knicks owner James Dolan)
• Turner Sports, Time Warner, NBC Sports Comcast Ventures, 21^st Century Fox and Fox Sports Interactive Media
• Visa, MasterCard and American Express
• J.P. Morgan, Capital One Bank, Google Capital, Piton Capital and Scottish Investment Bank
• PayPal, Paysafe and Vantiv (payment processors)
• DraftKings, FanDuel and Jason Robins

Theses companies are some of the largest and most successful organizations in the world, so this should be interesting to see where this lawsuit goes. The legal claims behind the lawsuit include theories of negligence, breach of contract, and the felonious crime of racketeering.  If it is approved as a class-action lawsuit, it is expected that thousands, if not more, will join for reimbursements.  It will be interesting to see the defense of these companies against such charges. There will be more posts on this lawsuit as the case develops.