Daily fantasy lawsuit accuses leagues, media outlets of racketeering, conspiracy

The latest class action lawsuit targeting daily fantasy sports seeks restitution from the major media outlets, professional sports leagues and venture capital firms that have taken investment stakes in DraftKings and FanDuel.

First spotted by Sports Illustrated’s Michael McCann, the 132-page lawsuit is an amended version of an earlier action filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida by two local DFS players, Antonio Gomez and John Gerecs.

The suit seeks to recoup money lost by all DFS players on DraftKings and FanDuel between Feb. 1, 2012 and Oct. 6, 2015. The defendants are accused of negligence, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, deceptive practices plus civil racketeering and conspiracy.

As with a separate class action filed in New York this week, the Florida suit targets banks and payment processors for enabling “illegal gambling” transactions with DFS sites. But the Florida suit also targets the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer as part owners of the DFS sites.