NEW YORK (AP) – A New York judge on Monday rejected the requests of daily fantasy sports operators DraftKings and FanDuel for temporary restraining orders to block the state attorney general’s attempt to shut them down.
In separate complaints filed Friday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, FanDuel and DraftKings first asked a judge for an injunction, arguing that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wrongly characterized their businesses as illegal gambling operations.
On Monday, Boston-based DraftKings and New York-based FanDuel asked Justice Manuel Mendez for an immediate restraining order to stop Schneiderman until they can present their case. Each said they face irreparable damage otherwise.
DraftKings said it has 375,000 New Yorkers among some 2.5 million players, and that the attorney general told its vendors in letters that it was at risk of not doing business in New York anymore.
FanDuel said it has over 1 million users, with “hundreds of thousands” in New York whose deposits it has been unable to process since Friday. The company blamed that on Schneiderman’s office, saying it has already contacted the bank and payment processors handling FanDuel’s customer deposits and withdrawals, deterring them from continuing.