Call for Action

These billion dollar enterprises are run by people smart enough to know that change needs to happen. Whether it is banning employees from playing, or strictly monitoring them, something needs to be done. Draftkings and Fanduel made their money off of players that played with integrity. Now, that integrity has been compromised by someone who could have potentially betrayed the company. It is worth noting that the hundreds of thousands of dollars this employee won, was worth far more than his normal Draftkings salary. Nothing is stopping them from finding a loophole in order to further their personal gain. Players will be pleased to know that Draftkings CEO Jason Robins has stated that he will ensure the integrity of the game, first by banning all employees from competing. However, users will always have this looming in the back of their mind every time they put money down in a competition.

Implications on Daily Fantasy Community

Players on both Draftkings and Fanduel are extremely disappointed in the news about potential insider trading. People compete on Draftkings and Fanduel for enjoyment, and adrenaline rush that winning can provide. It is something that has become increasingly popular in sports culture, so much so that in the future there will probably professional Fantasy players. Currently, users feel slighted that an employee at Draftkings obtained information unavailable to the common play, and won because of it. The CEOs at both companies have a tall task on their hand to level out the playing field and creating a new sense of integrity.

Jason Robins CEO Interview

This interview delves into what went wrong and why there is a controversy amongst Daily Fantasy users. It also examines what they are doing to prevent this kind of thing from happening again in the future. RotoGrinders is a website that was created directly because of Daily Fantasy. On this website, users can gain advanced statistics, matchup predictions, and opinions from previous winners.

FBI Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has officially sent a letter of inquiry to Draftkings and Fanduel. A Draftkings employee obtained insider information based on algorithms to predict player performance. This employee entered a tournament on Fanduel and came in second place in the Millionaire Maker contest, winning over $320,000 dollars. The FBI will request internal data from both of the companies in order to get to the source of this controversy. This poses a huge threat to two companies who have made a killing off of the opportunity they provide to players.

Draftkings Statistics

Draftkings Statistics:

-50 million users

-Both Draftkings and Fanduel are worth $1 billion dollars, respectively.

-Both companies have spent over $150 million in just the 3rd quarter of 2015.

-Draftkings signed a $250 million dollar sponsorship deal with ESPN.

-Both companies are partnered with the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and PGA Tour.

-They have both spent over $250 million in advertisement this year