U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter to two large, daily fantasy sports websites requesting a list of National Football League (NFL) personnel who used their services in the last year.
According to Pallone’s letter, which he sent to websites, FanDuel and DraftKings on Thursday, he asked for the names of players, coaches, referees, training personnel, and team staff and owners who had used the websites in the last year.
In September Pallone stated his intentions of holding a hearing to investigate “the relationship between professional sports and fantasy sports to review the legal status of fantasy sports and sports betting.” The Hill reported that FanDuel and DraftKing are not like other fantasy websites because they let users pick virtual “teams” for a single day’s contests and win large prizes based on the performance of their players.
The letter argues that the NFL is the only major professional sports league that has not prohibited its players from participating in fantasy sports leagues within their own sport. Pallone cites the MLB, NHL, and the NBA as leagues that already banned their players from participating. Moreover, he states that the NCAA also prohibits players and staff from playing. The NFL has dissuaded several players from appearing at promotional events for the sites.
Pallone also claims that employees of these fantasy gaming sites with access to insider information were playing on rival sites and pocketing big winnings. Earlier this month, it was revealed that a DraftKings employee had won $350,000 on FanDuel. Investigations ensued. But the sites claim the employee made his picks before he could access privileged information.
You can read Pallone’s letter here.
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