The fantasy sports sector was left frustrated Thursday wondering why the Fantasy Sports Trade Association had apparently allowed a major media outlet to gain access to damning meeting notes.
ESPN revealed Thursday that they had obtained FSTA meeting minutes in which DraftKings CEO Jason Robins essentially admitted that his company had knowingly broke the law as it pertains to violation of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act.
The FSTA was also subpoenaed to provide similar information to the New York Attorney General’s office with what appears to be little fight.
A source close to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association did support the notion that the meeting notes were taken out of context and it remains unclear how ESPN could have obtained this information from any entity other than the FSTA or the New York Attorney General’s office (a possibility perhaps).
The Florida Attorney General had also ordered said minutes for a grand jury investigation as was reported last month by the Wall Street Journal.
“As a Trade Association, the FSTA could have fought to hold back this information,” a source tells DFS911.com. “They must do everything possible to look out for their members. This is throwing them under the bus.”
From Sports Illustrated:
“Jason acknowledged that Golf and NASCAR do not comply with the letter of the UIGEA, but argued that UIGEA was written when daily fantasy didn’t exist,” the minutes of the call said, according to ESPN. Robins then explained why he believed golf and NASCAR would comply by UIGEA if the law was written with daily fantasy in mind.”
DraftKings was quick to point out that those minutes were taken out of context.
“The purported FSTA board minutes are not a verbatim transcript, but rather the interpretation of a lengthy meeting by one non-lawyer reflecting what another non-lawyer said about a complex law,” a statement from the company read.
Asked about the accuracy of the transcript, Robins told ESPN on Thursday night, “The minutes were inaccurate, and in a follow-up meeting with the full board, the first thing I said was just that — the minutes were inaccurate and I did not say that. What I did say is that the law is more complex and that state law would supersede UIGEA. I never said we were in violation, and was clear about that as soon as I saw the minutes.”
– Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com