Daily Fantasy Operators Sued for Illegally Offering Sports Betting in Massachusetts

Yahoo Fantasy Sports, PrizePicks, and Underdog Fantasy are the target of a lawsuit filed Thursday in Massachusetts trying to recover money on bets now considered illegal in the state.

The 33-page suit was filed in Massachusetts Superior Court by Joseph Curran from Gloucester. He is seeking all the money wagered on so-called prop and pick ’em bets with the daily fantasy operators, which could total millions of dollars. The suit says the three companies were authorized in Massachusetts to operate as fantasy sports platforms, not gambling ones. FanDuel and DraftKings offer both fantasy and betting, but they’re registered with the state to do both.

Other bettors are allowed to join Curran within three months per a state law, and after that, the suit says any remaining money recovered will go to charity.

According to the lawsuit, the three companies made more than $10 million monthly from these kinds of bets, and while PrizePicks and Underdog stopped offering them in March, Yahoo still might be. The state sent cease and desist letters to companies including Yahoo in February, while PrizePicks and Underdog voluntarily agreed to stop providing the bets in Massachusetts.

Prop bets are wagers placed on a specific performance, such as whether one player will score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, or another might throw for 300 yards. These can be strung together in a parlay that reaps bigger earnings if all legs are correct. Prop bets are tricky in the daily fantasy space because they resemble true sports betting, even if they’re technically under the fantasy umbrella.

Curran seeks to hold the fantasy companies “accountable for their willful disregard of Massachusetts law,” reads the lawsuit.

“He never even played on our platform,” an Underdog spokesperson tells FOS. “It’s a completely transparent fishing attempt by a plaintiffs lawyer, and it will get dismissed sooner rather than later. Just a press release searching for a legal theory, trying to extract a settlement. We continue to offer our product in compliance with Massachusetts law.”

These kinds of bets have been scaled back in several states, including Massachusetts, Florida, Wyoming, and New York—where PrizePicks had to pay $15 million in a settlement with the state’s gaming commission in February. 

The distinction is important for regulators because fantasy sports are allowed for anyone over the age of 18 in most states (not including Massachusetts), but users have to be 21 to sign up with a betting operator. PrizePicks declined to comment.

A representative for Yahoo Sports tells FOS that its involvement in the lawsuit is a misunderstanding because its pick ’em games are free (meaning the company doesn’t take money from users) and it doesn’t let users bet on specific players.