Last Wednesday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan proclaimed that daily fantasy sports (DFS) are illegal under current state law and while she did not take immediate action against any sites, namely DFS industry leaders DraftKings and FanDuel, she did tell them that she expected them to leave the market posthaste. Both sites announced their intentions to fight the ruling – after all, they don’t want to lose the fourth largest DFS market in the U.S. and possibly start the domino effect of losing more states – and filed complaints against Madigan. It looked like it was going to be a long, legal slog. It still might be, but on Monday, Cook County (IL) Circuit Court Judge David B. Atkins ordered that DraftKings’ complaint will be heard on an expedited schedule.
Both DraftKings and Madigan’s office have agreed to the accelerated schedule, which mandates that Madigan file a response to DraftKings’ complaint by January 22nd.
The points Judge Atkins made in his ruling:
The Parties agree as follows:
1. Defendant shall answer or otherwise respond to the Complaint on or before January 22, 2016.
2. All pretrial proceedings, including any discovery or pre-trial motion practice (other than summary judgment motions), shall be completed on or before April 28, 2016, with the Parties to reach agreement on an expedited discovery schedule or else the Court shall direct one.
3. The Parties shall submit any cross-motions for summary judgment on or before May 5, 2016; oppositions to any such motions shall be due on May 19, 2016; and any reply papers shall be due on May 26, 2016.
4. Trial, if necessary, shall be set for June 27, 2016, or as soon thereafter as the Court is able to hear the case for trial.
5. The Parties waive any demand for a jury trial and agree to proceed by bench trial before this Court. The jury demand in the Complaint is stricken.
6. The Parties will not pursue any other action against the other Party concerning the legality of the daily fantasy sports contests that Plaintiff offers in Illinois, except before this Court.
The bench trial is scheduled for June. It is entirely possible, though (then again, with the way politicians work, who knows), that a trial could be avoided completely if the state legislators move on a current bill that would regulate daily fantasy sports in Illinois. Should that make it through before June, this whole kerfuffle could end without any lawsuits or further trouble.
In a statement, DraftKings’ legal counsel Randy Mastro said, “We are pleased that we have reached agreement with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office today on an expedited court schedule for determining the legality of the daily fantasy sports contests that DraftKings is offering in Illinois. We remain committed to providing DFS to the hundreds of thousands of loyal Illinois fans who love the game, and we look forward to our day in court, where we are confident we will prevail.”
