Yahoo added to list of fantasy sports sites targeted in New York

Yahoo’s daily fantasy sports betting days in New York could be numbered.

The tech company, which announced in July that it was joining the booming daily online fantasy sports world, is the latest subject of an investigation into the legality of such betting sites.

According to the New York Times, which cited an unnamed source, the New York State attorney general has issued a subpoena to Yahoo. Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman also is seeking an injunction in state court to ban FanDuel and DraftKings, the two most popular daily fantasy sports sites, from the state.

Last week, Schneiderman’s office sent cease-and-desist letters to FanDuel and DraftKings, saying their sites violated state gambling laws by offering games of chance, rather than skill. That prompted a rally of angry fantasy sports players to gather outside his office.

As of Wednesday, New York bettors still could play on Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy.

Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy is available through a mobile app and allows users to compete in groups or individually by betting on a professional athlete’s performance. The site has quickly become a top destination for daily fantasy sports players.

Daily fantasy games will generate about $2.6 billion this year in entry fees, an industry euphemism for wagers, growing 41% annually to an estimated $14.4 billion by 2020, according to Eilers Research in Anaheim.

The number of people playing fantasy sports this year will total 56.8 million, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Assn.

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Fantasy sports betting has blossomed since 2006, when the federal government enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

The law distinguished gambling on fantasy sports as a game of skill rather than chance like, say, online poker, making it fully legal in nearly all states except those — including Arizona, Iowa and Montana — where local laws ban such betting.

In July, Ken Fuchs, Yahoo’s vice president of products, said the move would allow the Sunnyvale, Calif., company to expand its presence on mobile devices, draw in the 18- to 34-year-old demographic and create a base of steady transactional revenues by taking 10% of each wager.

A Yahoo spokesman said the company does not comment on legal matters.

“We are monitoring industry trends and events closely and believe that we offer a lawful product for our Daily Fantasy Sports users,” he said.

Twitter: @byandreachang

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