Quitting Your Job For Fantasy Football 
 
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 You may just call it late summer; for many die-hard sports fans, it's called fantasy football drafting season. 
 
 Fantasy sports is a huge business, with an estimated 36 million people in the U.S. and Canada picking teams and talkin' trash, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. 
 
 And now we may be at a tipping point. 
 
 One man - Drew Dinkmeyer - actually left his job as an investment analyst to play fantasy sports full-time. 
 
 As Dinkmeyer explained to NPR's Jacki Lyden, he can afford to take such a risk because he gambles multiple games a day on upward of $500 each game — a far cry from the once-a-season cash outlay that many gamers throw down. 
 
 "So after a few years of playing," he said, "I started to have income levels that were commensurate with what I was making in the financial world. And it started to become more of a reality and less of a dream." 
 
 Dinkmeyer likens what he does to day-trading on the stock market. 
 
 "What you're doing is you're trying to find a company that is trading for less than it's really worth. ... So if there's a company out there that's priced at $50 on a given day, and you think that company is really worth $60 or $70, you want to own that company and invest in that company, and that's the same thing daily fantasy players are doing. 
 
 "They're given a list of prices for all the individual players, and they have to figure out which ones are worth more than those actual prices to compile the best team that can put together the most points." 
 
 Combined with his incomes as a writer for fantasy sports websites and a host on satellite radio, Dinkmeyer says he can live out this sports fantasy for the long haul. 
 
 "This is something that I imagine doing for the rest of my life." ||||| The FBI and the US attorney’s office in Boston have launched an investigation into whether DraftKings Inc. and other fantasy sports operators are violating federal gambling laws, according to a person familiar with the probe. 
 
 The investigation is in the beginning stages, the person said Wednesday night. 
 
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 A spokeswoman for US Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office said it could not confirm or deny the investigation. 
 
 Daily fantasy sports have been under scrutiny in recent weeks, with elected officials and lawmakers in several states calling for probes into the legality of the practice. But the new investigation marks the first time the federal government has officially begun to evaluate the industry’s legal status. 
 
 Boston-based DraftKings issued a statement late Wednesday saying “it is entirely predictable that the government would follow up on the misleading reports about our industry.” 
 
 “We have no knowledge of the specifics of any federal investigation but strongly disagree with any notion that our company has engaged in any illegal activities,” said the business, which has grown to more than 270 employees in three years. 
 
 DraftKings’ top rival, New York-based FanDuel Inc., declined to comment. 
 
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 Customers of DraftKings have been contacted by FBI agents from the Boston office, according to The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report the investigation. 
 
 Gambling has been a focal point for Ortiz’s office in recent years. In the most prominent case, in 2010, Ortiz charged the wife of then-US Representative John F. Tierney with helping her brother manage the profits of an illegal offshore gambling enterprise. Patrice Tierney pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in prison. 
 
 Daily fantasy sports contests generally require entrants to pay for a chance to win cash prizes — a system that recently prompted Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and US Representative Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, to question whether the companies should be considered illegal online gambling outfits. Healey has also reached out to DraftKings and FanDuel to discuss what steps the websites are taking to protect customers. 
 
 A recent data leak that raised questions about the integrity of cash contests also led New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to open an investigation into whether the companies’ employees have access to player data that gives them an unfair advantage when they enter contests. 
 
 DraftKings and FanDuel, which together have raised more than $700 million in venture capital, maintain that in all but a handful of states their contests are legal, based on an exemption to the federal Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006. 
 
 The law distinguishes between betting on point spreads and entering fantasy sports contests that “reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants.” 
 
 However, a former US representative, Jim Leach of Iowa, who coauthored the gambling act, said that he and other lawmakers could not have imagined at the time what fantasy sports would become and never intended to sanction the kinds of high-stakes contests now offered regularly. 
 
 Top prizes on DraftKings and FanDuel, which did not exist when the law was written, routinely top $1 million, and the companies have said they expect to pay out more than $3 billion in combined winnings this year. 
 
 Participation in fantasy sports leagues has more than tripled in the nine years since the gambling law was passed, to 57 million people in North America, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. 
 
 In fantasy football contests, DraftKings and FanDuel users draft real NFL players for their imaginary teams and score points based on how well those players perform on the field. 
 
 Leach said the fantasy exemption, favored by professional sports leagues like the NFL and by Major League Baseball, was included to speed passage of the law. 
 
 “Concern was raised that we faced an amendment process that we could lose control of if no accommodation was made for fantasy sports,” said Leach, now a law professor at the University of Iowa. “Concern was also expressed that if the committee did not accommodate the concerns of the amendment’s advocates, we might not carry the floor vote, and even if we did, might have to deal with a delaying Senate amendment on the subject.” 
 
 Last week, DraftKings chief executive Jason Robins told the Globe that his company will comply with any new regulations that might be placed on the fantasy sports industry. 
 
 “Whatever the government wants to do, we have to accept it,” he said. “It’s not a choice we have.” But Robins contended that external checks are not needed to ensure the integrity of the contests. 
 
 The leak that caused so much uproar, he insisted, did not factor into a DraftKings employee’s $350,000 payday on FanDuel. The employee, Ethan Haskell, posted a data table showing the rates at which real NFL players had been selected for fantasy teams before contest entries were locked in on DraftKings. 
 
 However, an internal investigation concluded Haskell gained access to the data only after submitting final picks for the contest he entered on FanDuel, which had an earlier deadline. 
 
 Still, Haskell’s leak and subsequent winnings prompted questions about whether employees of fantasy sports companies might have an edge when playing against the crowd. In response, DraftKings and FanDuel banned workers from entering cash games on any site. The companies previously barred employees from playing on their own sites. 
 
 David Kaplen, a San Antonio man who quit his job as a restaurant manager to play fantasy sports full time in 2009, said he “never felt violated” by the participation of DraftKings and FanDuel employees. But he feels better knowing they are no longer playing against him. 
 
 “You have to decide which side you’re on,” said Kaplen, 41. “Are you going to work for one of the companies or are you going to play? You can’t have it both ways.” ||||| Contents 1 The story, in a nutshell 
 
 2 Why the question of access to insider data is a critical one 2.1 The threat of “insider trading” 2.2 Do employees of DFS sites play at other DFS sites? 2.3 How much does it happen? 
 
 3 Where the story intersects with the issue of regulation 3.1 The role of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association 
 
 4 Official statements from key stakeholders 4.1 DraftKings, FanDuel, and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association 4.2 The NBA 4.3 Major League Baseball 4.4 Policymakers 
 
 5 How does access to ownership data provide an edge? 
 
 6 Did Haskell have access to data that facilitated his win at FanDuel? 
 
 The leaking of player lineup data at daily fantasy sports site DraftKings has sparked a nationwide conversation spanning employee access to sensitive player data, game integrity, and the effectiveness of operators self-policing in the DFS industry. 
 
 DFS Report was first to report on the issue, which was originally noted in a Rotogrinders thread. 
 
 The employee in question was cleared of any wrongdoing in a third-party review that was released on October 19. 
 
 The story, in a nutshell 
 
 Here are the broad strokes of #DKLeak: 
 
 Why the question of access to insider data is a critical one 
 
 Haskell’s apparent ability to readily access valuable data raises questions about DraftKings’ internal controls. As DFS Report put it: 
 
 If this sort of information is stored in advance like this who is to say that the data isn’t available to someone 5 minutes before kickoff of games or 10 minutes before the kickoff or even an hour before the initial kickoff. My point is if the data can be accessed in advance then it is not hard to see it could easily be accessed at other points in advance even before the tournament is live. 
 
 If the data is made available, the questions looming over DraftKings – and all operators – include: 
 
 Which staff members , and how many, are seeing data like this or have access to it? 
 
 , and how many, are seeing data like this or have access to it? What other data could these employees access that would be of use in setting lineups? 
 
 could these employees access that would be of use in setting lineups? What precautions are being taken to keep the data from leaking? 
 
 The threat of “insider trading” 
 
 Even if a DFS site employee is not playing DFS (at his or her site, or elsewhere) lineup data and other internal operator data would be extremely valuable to DFS players. 
 
 Combine that significant value with an environment where internal controls on data access are lax and you risk the functional equivalent of insider trading on the stock market, argued sports and gaming attorney Daniel Wallach: 
 
 With too many employees presumably having access to this inside information, it raises the specter of insiders using this non-public information to gain an edge when they play similar contests for big money on other sites. At a minimum, DFS employees and insiders should be restricted from playing on any site (not just their own), and access to this type of information should be limited only to the most essential of personnel. If it’s too easily accessible to most employees, the risk and suspicion of insider profiteering will not go away anytime soon. 
 
 Do employees of DFS sites play at other DFS sites? 
 
 Absolutely. 
 
 We are not aware of any DFS company that had a blanket policy prohibiting employees from playing on other DFS sites at the time of the incident. 
 
 Following the incident, FanDuel and DraftKings announced they were restricting the ability of their employees to play DFS at other sites, and that employees of other DFS sites would be prohibited from playing on DraftKings and FanDuel. Several other operators have followed with similar policies. 
 
 How much does it happen? 
 
 Anecdotally, the amount of cross-site play by operator employees is substantial. 
 
 DraftKings founder Paul Liberman commented in September that the company employs “some people who make significantly more money off of our competitors’ sites than they do working for DraftKings.” 
 
 One industry insider who wished to remain anonymous told LSR that “a significant number of the whales at the top DFS sites are employees – often executives – of other sites.” 
 
 (From a DFS operator’s point of view, a “whale” is simply a high-volume player that generates significant revenue, not necessarily a winning or losing player.) 
 
 Where the story intersects with the issue of regulation 
 
 Daily fantasy sports currently occupies a legal space in the U.S. that has allowed the industry to exist outside of the regulatory umbrella that covers conceptually similar products like parimutuel horse wagering, poker, and sports betting. 
 
 Operators of DFS sites do not submit to oversight by state gaming regulators, a situation that has generated numerous objections from within the commercial casino industry. 
 
 As a result of that status quo: 
 
 There are no formal, industry-wide rules governing this particular situation. 
 
 this particular situation. There is no transparency surrounding the critical questions related to the incident. 
 
 surrounding the critical questions related to the incident. There is no guarantee of accountability – DraftKings is effectively conducting its own investigation. 
 
 – DraftKings is effectively conducting its own investigation. There is no body actively working to craft enforceable policy that would prevent future conflicts from arising. 
 
 As Seth Young, COO of daily fantasy sports site Star Fantasy Leagues, noted to LSR, “brick and mortar groups in a regulated environment have tight controls on who can access what data. We always talk about how we have been built to address things like this, and other concerns of gaming regulators, etc. There’s a reason this stuff doesn’t come out of our camp, and it’s not because of player numbers.” 
 
 “This is, however, another case in point why we license and control our technology,” Young added. “Knowing what I know, I’m not sure how this sort of thing happens by accident, or how deep this integrity issue goes.” 
 
 In the absence of an external oversight function, here are some critical questions stemming from the data leak issue that we’ll never have complete certainty regarding: 
 
 How have sites enforced policies that prohibit employees from playing at their home site, using internal data to gain an advantage at other sites, or transferring internal data to individuals outside of the company? 
 
 that prohibit employees from playing at their home site, using internal data to gain an advantage at other sites, or transferring internal data to individuals outside of the company? How many instances have there been where those policies were violated? How many accusations or investigations? 
 
 have there been where those policies were violated? How many accusations or investigations? What was the investigative process for determining whether a policy violation took place? 
 
 for determining whether a policy violation took place? How many people have access to competitively sensitive data? How many times has that level of data been accessed by employees? Could employees access data anonymously or through proxy accounts? How difficult would it have been for an employee to share data? 
 
 to competitively sensitive data? How many times has that level of data been accessed by employees? Could employees access data anonymously or through proxy accounts? How difficult would it have been for an employee to share data? What percentage of employees / executives from one site have active accounts at other sites? 
 
 from one site have active accounts at other sites? When a player hits a big score at a DFS site, does the site investigate him or her for links to employees at the site where the win took place? 
 
 at a DFS site, does the site investigate him or her for links to employees at the site where the win took place? What systems, if any, do DFS operators have for cooperating in order to advance fraud investigations? 
 
 In contrast, the regulated NJ online casino industry exists in an environment where state regulators have on-demand access to any and all data related to game play, comprehensive transaction history, and employees. 
 
 DraftKings was required to apply for the same type of licensure in the United Kingdom as sports betting operators bet365 and betfair, as daily fantasy sports falls under the purview of the UK Gambling Commission. 
 
 The role of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association 
 
 The FSTA – the primary trade group for the DFS industry – does have a “Paid Entry Contest Operator Charter” that serves as the only external guidelines for DFS operators. FSTA board members include the CEOs of DraftKings and FanDuel; FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles was an author of the charter. 
 
 The charter includes a section dedicated to game integrity: 
 
 Player Protection The signatory company will ensure employees or other persons connected to the company with access to confidential player information (such as line-ups) will not: Play on their own games (apart from for testing purposes or in private leagues) 
 
 Use confidential player information to gain an advantage playing against players on a different site 
 
 Share confidential player information (such as win rate) to anyone outside of the company 
 
 Note that the FSTA considers lineups to be “confidential player information” and that the leak appears to be a clear violation of the FSTA charter. 
 
 But what’s actually behind the policy? The FSTA itself makes it clear that the body isn’t meant to serve as an enforcement apparatus. From the charter: 
 
 Conforming with the above should not be viewed as compliance with the law, and the FSTA is in no way certifying such compliance of member companies. Companies should procure and adhere to legal advice regarding their games from skilled, experienced counsel of their choice The FSTA is not undertaking to audit or regulate member companies. Rather, this code is designed to foster proper behavior and allow the FSTA to exercise discretion and take action if it so chooses should it learn that a member company is not adhering to the principles set forth above. 
 
 Also, if you violate the charter, the only penalty would be no longer having membership in the FSTA, which is nowhere near what the penalty would be for an infraction regarding game integrity that would result under regulation. 
 
 Official statements from key stakeholders 
 
 DraftKings, FanDuel, and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association 
 
 Here is a complete timeline of responses from DraftKings, FanDuel, and the FSTA. 
 
 The NBA 
 
 NBA on DFS: "We have been advised all appropriate actions are being taken to maintain the highest level of integrity for fantasy players." — David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) October 6, 2015 
 
 Major League Baseball 
 
 Via ESPN: 
 
 “Major League Baseball has a policy that prohibits players and employees from participating in fantasy baseball games in which prize money or other things of value are available to participants,” MLB said in its statement. “We were surprised to learn that DraftKings allowed its employees to participate in daily fantasy games. We have reached out and discussed this matter with them.” 
 
 Policymakers 
 
 How does access to ownership data provide an edge? 
 
 Ed Miller, an independent games consultant who has written frequently about DFS, says that it’s difficult to overstate the value of lineup data. 
 
 “If you knew beforehand which players would be most used, in the major sports you can build +EV (positive expected value) cash game and GPP lineups based almost solely on that knowledge,” Miller told Legal Sports Report. 
 
 Ownership percentage is one piece of the puzzle that can be useful in skillfully setting DFS lineups, especially in guaranteed prize pool contests. Top players try to predict ownership percentages, and data about past ownership percentages can be dissected for information. 
 
 Because of the massive number of entries in the biggest contests at DraftKings and FanDuel — hundreds of thousands — it’s usually difficult to win a contest with a lot of players that are commonly owned. 
 
 Additional resources on this question: 
 
 Did Haskell have access to data that facilitated his win at FanDuel? 
 
 We have seen no compelling evidence or credible accusations that Haskell’s FanDuel win was in any way connected to the data leak in question. 
 
 DraftKings has categorically denied that Haskell had access at a time that would have impacted his entry in the FanDuel contest in question: 
 
 DraftKings has put out a new statement insisting its employee locked in his FanDuel lineup before seeing the data. pic.twitter.com/rLuFzJLzVG — Daniel Roberts (@readDanwrite) October 6, 2015 
 
 RotoGrinders founder Cal Spears reported that Haskell did not have access to the data before setting his lineup at FanDuel. Here is his post from the RG thread, which included an update from Saturday: 
 
 There is a narrative running on Twitter that Ethan had access to this data before lineups locked and used it to play on Fanduel. From what I’m told he received the ownership report well after lineups locked on Fanduel. There is plenty of merit in a debate about site employees playing on different sites, but we need to base that debate in reality. Ethan was not using this data to pick his week 3 teams on Fanduel, he was writing about this data for DK Playbook after his week 3 teams on Fanduel had already locked. 
 
 Spears said he also confirmed with DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish that the data that Haskell had access to was issued too late to be of use at FanDuel. 
 
 Photo by Eric Norris used under license CC BY 2.0.
– His job is literally a fantasy: Drew Dinkmeyer makes his money by betting on fantasy games, and he's not exactly struggling. The 31-year-old quit his work as an investment analyst in June so he could concentrate on fantasy sports, and he's making comparable money. "After a few years of playing, I started to have income levels that were commensurate with what I was making in the financial world," he tells NPR. But Dinkmeyer may not be playing what you're playing: He plays "daily fantasy sports," where instead of being stuck with a team for a season, the action is compressed into a single night. So instead of laying down one bet per season, he makes daily bets. (The Wall Street Journal has a good rundown on how it works, and how "advanced statistics" play a part.) Being a "daily fantasy" player is like day-trading, Dinkmeyer says. "What you're doing is you're trying to find a company that is trading for less than it's really worth." Fantasy players get a football-player price list, for instance, "and they have to figure out which ones are worth more than those actual prices to compile the best team that can put together the most points." The Journal reports that of the 30 million fantasy players in America, experts believe no more than 100 earned at least $40,000 last year. NPR notes that Dinkmeyer pads his income by writing about fantasy sports online and hosting a satellite radio show, and has a wife who "does very well in the financial industry."