The insider trading scandal that rocked the daily fantasy sports (DFS) world earlier this week has resulted in the filing of a class action lawsuit against both FanDuel and DraftKings, companies which provide a platform for fantasy sports, according to a report from Stephen Brown of the New York Daily News.
Per Brown, a fantasy football player by the name of Adam Johnson filed suit against both FanDuel and DraftKings in Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday, alleging that the inside information to which company employees are privy skew the games too far in said employees favor.
"In addition to years of data on optimal strategies, which gives Defendants' employees a huge advantage over even the most 'skilled' (daily fantasy sports) players, Defendants' employees also have real-time access to data on current lineups of every player in every contest, and the overall ownership percentages of every player," the suit says, per Brown.
The suit also alleges that DraftKings employees have won "at least" $6 million playing Fan Duel games. It reportedly seeks damages that will be determined at trial.
FanDuel and DraftKings found themselves at the center of a media firestorm when it was revealed that a DraftKings employee, Ethan Haskell, had published a "percentage owned" chart prior to certain NFL games starting and fantasy lineups being locked this past weekend. Haskell would go on to win $350,000 playing a daily fantasy game on FanDuel that weekend.
It was later revealed that Haskell's fantasy earnings playing on FanDuel had increased exponentially since he joined DraftKings as an employee in June 2014.
Since the release of the initial report, both FanDuel and DraftKings have decreed that company employees may no longer compete in fantasy sports, whether on another site or their own. New York state Attorney Eric Schneiderman has initiated a probe into both FanDuel and DraftKings. And ESPN has pulled some fantasy sports-sponsored content from their programming, though they continue to air paid advertisements.
