Missouri AG going after Gridiron Sports

[Ryan C]

Saw this on twitter - thought I would post it for all to see:

Jefferson City, MO (KSDK) - The state attorney general is targeting the operator of a Georgia-based fantasy sports company for allegedly defrauding Missourians by failing to pay out cash and other prices promised to the winning fantasy league owners.

According to Attorney General Chris Koster's lawsuit, Dustin Ashby and his company, Gridiron Fantasy Sports, ran the World Championship of Fantasy Football and the World Championship of Fantasy Baseball both in Missouri and throughout the country, operating from an office in Chesterfield, Missouri. Participants in the fantasy football and baseball contests would pay entrance fees for a chance to win pre-set cash prizes.

The lawsuit alleges that at the beginning of the 2010 fantasy football season, the defendants promised to pay cash prizes to 331 participants, totaling at least $389,500, based on the performance of their individual fantasy teams. In one instance, the company said the person whose team scored the most fantasy points in each league during its regular season would be guaranteed a cash payout of $5,000.

At the end of the 2010 season, Gridiron Fantasy Sports contacted the winners and promised to pay by February 15, 2011.

The defendants even went on ESPN during Super Bowl XLV and presented a check for $300,000 to one grand prize winner, but that check was never fully honored, Koster said.

The attorney general alleges the defendants failed to pay out at least $151,261 of the promised prize money, and that the company was using the fantasy baseball entry fees to pay the fantasy football winners, and then using the fantasy football entry fees to pay the fantasy baseball winners.

[Gekko]

The lawsuit also alleged that the defendants used some of the entrance fee money for non-contest purposes, such as paying off loans.

Koster is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting further violations of the law, as well as a civil penalty and an amount equal to 10 percent of total restitution ordered. Koster is also asking that the court require the defendants to provide full restitution to victims and pay all court costs.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Just a heads up that ESPN is doing a feature story on the demise of the WCOFF/WCOFB tomorrow morning at 10 am ET on Outside The Lines (ESPN2). It's not really something our industry needs, but it's definitely a worthy news story from ESPN's perspective. With so many good fantasy players being denied over $1 million in prize money, it's actually good to see that an aggressive AG and the news media are fighting for them. Our only hope is that all of these fantasy players who are owed money eventually see their winnings paid out to them. I don't know if that will happen, but let's hope it does.

[KJ Duke]

Just a heads up that ESPN is doing a feature story on the demise of the WCOFF/WCOFB tomorrow morning at 10 am ET on Outside The Lines (ESPN2). It's not really something our industry needs, but it's definitely a worthy news story from ESPN's perspective. With so many good fantasy players being denied over $1 million in prize money, it's actually good to see that an aggressive AG and the news media are fighting for them. Our only hope is that all of these fantasy players who are owed money eventually see their winnings paid out to them. I don't know if that will happen, but let's hope it does.

7am on the west coast