Who Said It: DFS Edition

The current debate over the legality of certain DFS products sounds an awful lot like the last DFS debate.

What Year Is It?

In September, I took a deep dive into the ongoing Civil War raging in the DFS industry. On one side are the OGs, DraftKings, and FanDuel. The new wave DFS operators, PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy (a newsletter sponsor), Sleeper, and some smaller DFS 2.0 operators are on the other side.

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In that column, I made the point that what falls into the Fantasy bucket has always been debatable, with everything from season-long fantasy to DFS 1.0 coming under fire at one point or another:

“Throughout its existence, the legality of DFS has been poked and prodded, and the consensus of what traditional DFS is has widened over time. The companies now arguing against DFS 2.0 sites faced similar scrutiny when they started offering contests on NASCAR (laps were separate events), golf (rounds were separate events), and later single-game contests for the Super Bowl and other one-off events.”

To hammer that point home, let’s play a little game of Who Said It: DFS Edition.

Is it a Quote From 2015 or 2023?

Can you guess who said the following? Bonus points if you know when it was said and what state is being referenced.

“Why the Attorney General would tell… constituents they can’t play fantasy sports anymore as they know it — and make no mistake, [the] opinion bans all forms of fantasy sports played for money — is beyond us. Hopefully, the legislature will give back to the people… the games they love.”

That isn’t PrizePicks or Underdog talking about the cease & desist letters they received in Florida. It was the statement from FanDuel following a negative opinion from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan in 2015.

How about this one?

"We look forward to working with lawmakers ... who wish to enact thoughtful and common-sense legislation that protects consumers' rights to compete while also adopting appropriate consumer protections.”

Once again, it’s not a DFS 2.0 operator. That was DraftKings’ legal counsel’s response to Madigan’s statement in 2015 declaring Illinois law “clearly declares that all games of chance or skill, when played for money, are illegal gambling in Illinois.”

But it does sound an awful lot like a statement made by John Lockwood, a lawyer representing the DFS 2.0 companies after the Florida Gaming Commission sent DFS operators cease & desist letters:

"We disagree on the merits and will be working with the commission and potentially the legislature so we can ensure Florida sports fans can continue to play."

That statement was in response to Louis Trombetta, the Executive Director of the Florida Gaming Control Commission’s cease & desist letters sent to PrizePicks, Underdog, and Betr.

“Under Florida law, betting or wagering on the result of contests of skill, such as sports betting, including fantasy sports betting, is strictly prohibited and constitutes a felony offense unless such activity is otherwise exempted by statute,” Trombetta wrote.

Let’s move on to Round 2 of “Who said it.”