DraftKings may have helped put out part of the fire that engulfed its name and the daily fantasy sports industry as a whole.
On Monday, DraftKings published an independent Summary of Findings, revealing that its content manager Ethan Haskell couldn't have used insider information to win $350,000 on rival site FanDuel.
The Summary of Findings report rules that "because he did not receive that information until 40 minutes after the [FanDuel] lineup was locked." That NFL Week 3 contest for $5 million on FanDuel started at 1 p.m., but the independent investigation claims that Haskell didn't receive the DraftKings' aggregate player ownership percentages file until 40 minutes later. That rules out the possibility of any wrongdoing because Haskell's lineup was already locked.
The independent investigation was conducted by John Pappalardo of Greenberg Traurig LLP and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Masssachusetts.
"We are very pleased that the independent investigation by Greenberg Traurig has confirmed the findings of our internal review of this matter and our conclusion that there was no improper use of information by our employee," DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said in a statement to Forbes. "In fact, as the investigation also concluded, it was not even possible for nonpublic information to have been used improperly."
Although this marks good news for DraftKings, FanDuel and the daily fantasy sports industry alike, it only temporarily quells a firestorm of controversy recently hovering around fantasy sports. The past few weeks alone have seen everything from the New York Attorney General's office opening an inquiry into DraftKings, FanDuel and daily fantasy sports to Nevada banning both sites in the state until they obtain gambling licenses.
These issues could lead to daily fantasy sports and fantasy sports as a whole being federally regulated.
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