Politico is reporting that Daily Fantasy Sports juggernauts FanDuel and DraftKings have begun a massive lobbying blitz in light of a recent scandal that made headlines across the airways last week.
Users in online forums are asking whether a DraftKings employee might have utilized information about lineups to win $350,000 in a competing contest on the FanDuel site. The information detailed the percentages of entrants who selected certain fantasy players.
The release, which the employee said was inadvertent, comes at a time when the daily fantasy industry is booming and DraftKings and FanDuel are spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising which touts the ability of contest winners to get rich playing daily fantasy sports. Both DraftKings and FanDuel have since implemented policy preventing their employees from playing on competing sites.
State Attorney Generals in New York, Florida and Massachusetts have launched probes into both firms.
FanDuel’s hiring of lobbyists came just days after New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) declared last month that Congress should look into how fantasy sports leagues interact with the sports leagues. James Barnette and Lisa Mortier, a partner and public policy staffer respectively at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, will assist FanDuel with its lobbying efforts.
– Aaron Goldstein, DFS911.com