Just over a month ago, the five major college athletic conferences asked FanDuel and DraftKings to stop offering daily fantasy games involving amateur players.
Last week, NCAA executive vice president Mark Lewis sent a letter to the two largest daily fantasy sports websites, informing them that they will not be allowed to advertise during championship events — notably the national men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments — stating its belief that daily fantasy sports “meet the definition of sports wagering within our bylaws.” Furthermore, the organization canceled a meeting with FanDuel and DraftKings executives in light of federal and state inquiries regarding the integrity of DFS contests and allegations of insider trading.
That request won’t be accommodated by FanDuel, whose top lawyer told the NCAA on Monday that the website will continue to offer college games among its contests. The letter sent by the company’s chief legal counsel, Christian Genetski, to Lewis — and obtained by ESPN’s Darren Rovell — said that FanDuel will not “make changes to our games at this time, and certainly not without further conversations with you.”
According to Rovell, FanDuel’s letter went on to say that the NCAA has no legal grounds to stop daily fantasy sports sites from running college games because names connected to statistics don’t have to be approved by college athletes and thus does not indicate their amateur status. Genetski said that FanDuel would not use athletes’ photos nor their names in advertising, which follows NCAA rules. As of yet, CBS and Turner Sports haven’t commented on the matter, surely leaving that in the NCAA’s hands.
This doesn’t mean that FanDuel plans to challenge the NCAA barring its athletes from playing daily fantasy games, with penalty of losing a year’s eligibility if caught. According to Genetski, the company’s terms of use already prohibit players from participating in contests involving their particular sport. (The NFL allows its players to participate in daily fantasy sports, but cannot accept winnings over $250.)
However, if the NCAA were to ask for the names of officials who might be FanDuel customers, Genetski said he would accommodate that request if the organization provided a list with the names of such personnel.
[ESPN.com]
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