Yahoo Bans Employees from Paid Fantasy-Sports Sites--2nd Update
October 09 2015 - 2:07PM
Dow Jones News
By Lisa Beilfuss And Brian R. Fitzgerald
Yahoo Inc. is banning employees from playing in paid
fantasy-sports contests, following similar moves by the two biggest
daily fantasy-sports sites in the U.S.
The move comes as the fantasy-site purveyors have faced scrutiny
over how much internal data employees have access to, and whether
that data can help them win as contestants on other daily fantasy
sites.
Such sites run online contests in which people draft virtual
teams of professional athletes and compete against each other based
on the athletes' real-world performances.
Earlier this week, FanDuel Inc. and DraftKings Inc. said they
would permanently ban employees from playing in daily fantasy
contests for money, and would enlist attorneys to review their
processes.
The controversy began after a DraftKings employee recently said
on an online message board that he prematurely released data about
contestants' lineups. That same week, the employee won $350,000
playing in a top contest on FanDuel. DraftKings said the early leak
of data was an accident, and both companies said the data didn't
lead to the victory.
"Yahoo is dedicated to operating all of its products with
integrity and always wants to ensure that our games are fair to all
of our users," said a Yahoo spokesperson. "Currently Yahoo
employees are not allowed to play daily fantasy in paid public
contests on our site," and "we have decided to extend this policy
to include paid public contests on all daily fantasy sites."
For Yahoo, the venture into paid fantasy sports is relatively
new. Seeking to supplement its stagnant advertising business, the
Internet company in July said it would enter the legal online
gambling market with a new fantasy-sports mobile app.
Separately, a class-action suit was brought on Thursday against
FanDuel and DraftKings, alleging the companies violate laws in
Kentucky, Massachusetts and New York. Representatives for FanDuel
and DraftKings declined to comment.
An estimated 56.8 million people in North America are playing
fantasy sports this year, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association said
this summer. They spend an average of $465 annually on these games,
the association said.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com and Brian R.
Fitzgerald at brian-r.fitzgerald@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 09, 2015 13:52 ET (17:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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