The vast majority of fantasy sports operators who received cease and desist letters from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in February are no longer offering prohibited against the house pick’em games.
Assistant Attorney General Jared Rinehimer told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday that nine of the 10 fantasy sports operators that received C&D letters “either never offered this particular game or are no longer doing so as of March 8.”
Parlay Play is the operator who has yet to confirm they are no longer offering pick’em games, LSR learned Monday.
However, on Tuesday the operator did reach out to the Attorney General to confirm that they stopped operation of pick’em games on March 8.
Crackdown on fantasy sports pick’em
There has been a state-level regulatory crackdown on prohibited against the house pick’em games.
In this case, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office noted that these games too closely mirrored sports betting parlays.
PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy did not receive C&D letters, as they both switched from against the house to peer-to-peer pick’em games by the March 8 deadline in Massachusetts.
TBD operator: Need modification time
Rinehimer said the operator yet to provide final clarification did respond to the state Attorney General. It asked for additional time to modify its platform.
The Massachusetts Attorney General said against the house games still cannot be offered after March 8.
AG: no more ‘unlawful practice’ allowed
Rinehimer said there cannot be an unfair playing field, and operators need to follow the laws immediately as requested.
“It would be unfair to the other operators who have stopped this practice, and we can’t abide by an unlawful practice continuing in the state,” Rinehimer said. “They have not confirmed that they are no longer offering these games, but our position has been made very clear to them. And we’ll be following up with them as time goes on.”
Fantasy sports providers get MA C&Ds
The 10 DFS operators issued letters in the Commonwealth include:
- BoomFantasy
- OwnersBox
- Parlay Play
- RealTime Fantasy Sports
- Sleeper
- Splash Sports
- Talid Sports, d/b/a Chalkboard Fantasy Sports
- Two Nine Sports, d/b/a StatHero
- Vivid Picks
- Yahoo! Daily Fantasy Sports
