FanDuel and DraftKings are taking their fight against New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to the streets. More specifically, the streets directly in front of Schneiderman’s Manhattan office building.
FanDuel, DraftKings Supporters (And Employees) Protest in New York
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had some extra foot traffic in front of his office Friday.
DraftKings
Both companies, which offer pay-to-play daily fantasy sports contests, put the call out on social media Thursday asking people to come protest Friday morning in front of Schneiderman’s office. On Wednesday, Schneiderman declared daily fantasy to be gambling, calling the business of pay-to-play fantasy sports a “multi-billion-dollar scheme.”
The decision, which followed a month-long investigation, means that FanDuel and DraftKings cannot legally offer pay-to-play fantasy sports contests in New York.
As you can imagine, FanDuel and DraftKings were not at all happy with that decision, and encouraged the protest. FanDuel is also asking people to sign an online petition. Hundreds showed up Friday morning, but as Fortune’s Dan Roberts pointed out on Twitter, the majority appeared to be either media or employees of the companies.
https://twitter.com/readDanwrite/status/665160540520636417
This prompted another Twitter user to chime in: “So it’s more of a ‘save my job’ rally, eh?” Ouch! (But also partly true.)
https://twitter.com/WaltonSpurlin/status/665165401777541122
Schneiderman’s office declined to comment through a spokesperson Friday morning. The daily fantasy industry is dealing with all kinds of regulatory issues right now, primarily because there aren’t any regulations around the business. It’s because of this that Schneiderman and regulators in Nevada are starting to crack down on the games, which pay out cash prizes as big as $1 million to players.
Here’s a look at the protest, as seen by those of us following along on social media.
https://twitter.com/DraftKings/status/665166066390278144
https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/665160970751340544
https://twitter.com/JordanMendell/status/665163415980220416
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins tweeted this photo, although a spokesperson for the company tells Re/code he was not actually in attendance.
https://twitter.com/JasonDRobins/status/665169277369131008
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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