UPDATED: New York shuts down DraftKings and FanDuel, says fantasy football is basically gambling

By Mike Vanderbilt | December 11, 2015 | 9:48pm

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There has been a great disturbance in the NFL, as if millions of mopes suddenly grunted out in confusion, and were suddenly silenced. For, according to Variety, a New York judge has ordered fantasy-sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings to shut down operations in the state. New York Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez says that “the payment of an ‘entry fee’ as high as $10,600 could certainly be deemed risking ‘something of value,’” confirming that the sites promote online gambling.

Fantasy football—which is not as kinky as it sounds, but is that dorky—has arguably been a big influence in making the NFL what it is today. A weekly RPG campaign with linebackers instead of elves and wizards and no need for an eight-sided die has brought a whole new element, and a lot more money, to the average game day. Online sites like the aforementioned Draft Kings and FanDuel allow customers to pay an entry fee and win cash based on the performance of actual players in games that take place that day or week, which, the sites maintain, is somehow not gambling. How could it be, when Variety reports that a DraftKings employee won $350,000 in a FanDuel contest? That sounds like it was a sure thing.