Georgia considering stance on daily fantasy sports websites

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2015 file photo, an employee in the software development department of DraftKings, a daily fantasy sports company, walks past screens displaying the company's online system stats in Boston. Customers of the two biggest daily fantasy sports websites have filed at least four lawsuits against the sites in Oct. 2015, following cheating allegations and a probe into the largely-unregulated multi-billion dollar industry. In court papers, the customers accused the DraftKings and FanDuel sites of cheating, and argued they never would have played had they known employees with insider knowledge were playing on rival sites. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2015 file photo, an employee in the software development department of DraftKings, a daily fantasy sports company, walks past screens displaying the company's online system stats in Boston. Customers of the two biggest daily fantasy sports websites have filed at least four lawsuits against the sites in Oct. 2015, following cheating allegations and a probe into the largely-unregulated multi-billion dollar industry. In court papers, the customers accused the DraftKings and FanDuel sites of cheating, and argued they never would have played had they known employees with insider knowledge were playing on rival sites. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens says his office is investigating whether daily fantasy sports violate state law.

Olens recently told the Augusta Chronicle that the issue is pending in his office.

Olens' statement comes after New York ordered two of the industry's largest companies to stop accepting bets last week because the state said the websites constituted illegal gambling.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a cease-and-desist order last week to FanDuel and DraftKings, two companies that let users assemble teams of professional athletes and win money based on their statistical performances in real-life games.

The companies argue that their contests require more skill than luck, and therefore aren't gambling. They also cite an exemption for fantasy sports in a 2006 federal law.

The state says the exemption doesn't supersede Georgia's gambling law.

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