The scandal erupted on September 27th after Draft Kings mid-level content manager Ethan Haskell inadvertently revealed data regarding what players were on many of the site’s participants’ rosters. The next day, Haskell finished second in a million-dollar FanDuel contest, netting $350,000. Although both companies released a joint statement insisting that they both have strict fraud control mechanisms to prevent impropriety by employees, the companies will continue to investigate the matter. Draft Kings released a statement to Forbes late Monday saying that Mr. Haskell’s FanDuel fantasy picks were locked in at 1:00pm on the 27th, meaning he could not edit his roster, and that the data breach occurred at 1:40, meaning that the data could not have influenced his picks.
If there is one thing that I care about more than truth and justice, it is Two Coats of Harbaugh, my fantasy football team. If anybody has ever watched the television show, “The League,” they can rest-assured that the struggle is real. Sometimes, you just have to paint your best friend’s garage if you really need a first-string tight end (thanks Austin Seferian-Jenkins…grr!) Still, at 4-0, with a cupcake matchup this week in the highly-competitive “Fantasy Football Legends” Yahoo league, I look poised to make my first deep playoff run since joining America’s real most popular game in 2012. The biggest difference this year, however, is the obnoxious pop-ups and advertisements in every form of media for these one-day, or one-week fantasy football leagues like FanDuel and Draft Kings. The only thing more annoying than these falsetto gambling sites is being asked by “non-leaguers” if I ever play on the aforementioned sites, which I try to reply non-violently. Real fantasy football leagues are a marriage, with years of history, nurturing, and personal commitment; weekly leagues are prostitution.
Needless to say, I’m a Cheshire cat with a big ball of yarn today combing through the scandal emitting from both brothels like syphilis. Much like prostitution, participants must pay entry fees for daily and weekly fantasy contests on these sites ranging from $.25 to $1,000 (insert joke here). These contests are against one or multiple opponents, with payouts as high as $2 million; only Robert Redford is not walking through that door. The scandal invokes hints of insider trading, a crime that has made other recent headlines due to a lack of clarity in the law. For the unregulated fantasy football industry, the murkiness looms even darker. Not that I have cared until now, but I guess the scandal erupted on September 27th after Draft Kings mid-level content manager Ethan Haskell inadvertently revealed data regarding what players were on many of the site’s participants’ rosters. The next day, Haskell finished second in a million-dollar FanDuel contest, netting $350,000. Although both companies released a joint statement insisting that they both have strict fraud control mechanisms to prevent impropriety by employees, the companies will continue to investigate the matter. Draft Kings released a statement to Forbes late Monday saying that Mr. Haskell’s FanDuel fantasy picks were locked in at 1:00pm on the 27th, meaning he could not edit his roster, and that the data breach occurred at 1:40, meaning that the data could not have influenced his picks.
What has become a shock to many interested parties beyond Haskell’s actions is the fact that employees from each company have been allowed to play on the competing sites up to now, although both companies have strict policies against playing on their own sites. That practice has now been banned, at least temporarily, by both companies in the wake of the scandal. While many, including myself, believe the practice to be gambling, 45 states have ruled the leagues to be “games of skill” and not “games of chance” such as gambling-related activities. Even if the evidence dictates that Haskell did not use the information in this instance, the potential for such misuse is fairly apparent. Fort Lauderdale-based sports and gambling attorney Daniel Wallach believes that, “The single greatest threat to the daily fantasy sports industry is the misuse of insider information.” Wallach added, “It could imperil this nascent industry unless real, immediate and meaningful safeguards are put in place. If the industry is unwilling to undertake these reforms voluntarily, it will be imposed on them involuntarily as part of a regulatory framework.”
New York’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman issued letters to the CEO’s of both companies late Monday, asking for detailed data regarding employees who set the player data and roster values in comparison to their success in playing on rival sites. FanDuel spokesperson Justine Sacco said on Tuesday that Draft Kings employees have only won .3 percent of the total payout from the company. Still, according to ESPN, that amounts to over $6 million of the company’s reported $2 billion in total payouts. In addition, New Jersey Democratic Representative Frank Pallone Jr. has requested a Congressional hearing to examine the relationship between fantasy football and gambling. In a recent interview Pallone said, “I really think if they had to justify themselves at a hearing they wouldn’t be able to.” Personally, much like prostitution, I don’t really care either way if it is legalized, but I demand a name change. It is not “Fantasy Football” anymore than what Bill Cosby is accused of doing is “making love.” Someone must take a stand for what is right and decent about society. Are you with me?
(Update: FanDuel announced late Wednesday that the company will now permanently ban all employees from playing in daily and weekly fantasy leagues for money, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell)
Sources:
ESPN– Darren Rovell
Forbes – Marc Edelman
Fortune – Daniel Roberts
New York Times – Joe Drape and Jacqueline Williams
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