The New York Supreme Court agreed to hold an emergency hearing next Wednesday at the request of daily fantasy sports site DraftKings, which is seeking to prevent the state’s attorney general from preventing it from taking bets because it is engaged in illegal gambling.
The court denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would prevent the attorney general from shutting the sites down in New York.
DraftKings and its rival FanDuel have quickly become major television advertisers, buying tons of ads and establishing branded content relationship on news and information shows on networks including ESPN.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Draft Kings has been asking for the commitments it made for advertising to air in the fourth quarter be pushed back until the first quarter It has also asked at least one media company for more flexibility in its payment terms.
The finding by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that the sites are gambling, rather than games of skill, could shut the sites out of a key market and start a domino effect in other states. Fantasy sports is already banned in Nevada.
"Today we filed a motion in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, seeking an order temporarily restraining the New York Attorney General from taking any action to enforce the cease and desist letter sent to DraftKings last week,” Draftkings said in a statement. “We also requested an expedited hearing schedule to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. We believe this TRO is necessary and warranted to protect DraftKings' business while we pursue our legal action to prevent the New York Attorney General from denying New Yorkers the right to continue playing the daily fantasy sports games they love."
After the court agreed to hear the matter, DraftKings said the Attorney General assured the court no action will be taken against the fantasy sports sights until the hearing
. “On that record, and because there will be an emergency hearing next week, the Court determined that no TRO was necessary. We are confident in our legal position, and look forward to our day in court next week. As a result, we intend to continue operating in New York,” DraftKings said.
