Think you escaped the endless, creeping reach of DraftKings by abstaining from any and all sports? Haha nerds, think again: DraftKings is here to get all up in your video games and make you feel sad and stuff.
By now I’m sure you’ve a) heard of DraftKings, b) heard of FanDuel, and c) figured out that there’s probably something super sketchy going on with at least one of them. States like Montana, Louisiana, Iowa and a few others including Nevada have already banned the daily fantasy sports websites, and listen – if Nevada thinks there’s something amiss, you are definitely gonna get your ass investigated.
Both FanDuel and DraftKings are currently embroiled in an insider information scandal, and are currently being investigated by Congress. This investigation is now going beyond information leaks regarding NFL data, and affecting participants in online games such as DOTA 2.
According to fantasy esports company Vulcan’s website, players in Nevada “can no longer participate in paid fantasy contests” on their site. You can read the lengthy and official press release here. Besides DOTA 2, this also includes games like Rocket League and League of Legends.
These games are considered “eSports,” but are getting caught up in real life fantasy sports like that NBA fantasy team I draft each year, stock full of rookies, and then ignore until I’m randomly in fourth place right before the playoffs. FanDuel added eSports to their repertoire in September after the acquisition of AlphaSports as a means to go head to head with DraftKings.
As of right now there’s no word on whether or not the five other states who have already will also be cracking down on gaming in a similar fashion. I guess you Iowans better get in as much time in the Fields of Justice as you can, just in case.