Alleging a “systematic and continued violation of the Ohio Revised Code and various criminal laws,” Scott Tyler of Mayfield and Owen McGrew of Olmsted Falls filed a class-action lawsuit Monday against FanDuel and DraftKings.

“FanDuel and DraftKings are each operating an illegal online sports betting business within the State of Ohio,” the suit claims. The plaintiffs explain that the two daily fantasy sports operations are based on wagers placed on the performance of athletes — making their “scheme” a game of chance, not skill, which is prohibited in Ohio.

(Read the full complaint below.)

Tyler and McGrew — and anyone else who may join this suit — want their lost wagers back.

Tyler and McGrew vs. FanDuel and Draftkings


This article appears in Oct 14-20, 2015.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

4 replies on “Two Northeast Ohioans File Class-Action Lawsuit Against DraftKings, FanDuel”

  1. Welcome to the modern medicine show, with the carnival barkers coming from local/national sports-talk show hosts (who need to be investigated concerning the cross-promotional deals which linked most as daily players to lure listeners into the wagering games) — a million mark march of dead money to be feasted upon by a small school of sharks and company employees.

  2. Their employees could play on each other’s sites, but not on their own. That was until one of them came in 3rd in a huge tournament & took home $350k! A federal investigation was done and no wrongdoing was found. But because of the perceived notion that one could “cheat” by having some sort of “insider knowledge,” they have since banned all employees from playing in daily fantasy for money. This also proves that this is a game of skill, and not chance, like traditional gambling.

    In any card game, slot, etc, there’s an element of uncontrollable chance, i.e. “Luck.” In Fantasy sports, you have a choice as to who fills in your roster. There is a plethora of information, free or otherwise paid for, that one can use and become substantially better. It is a game of skill. You can’t just play the same players week after week and win. Salaries are continuously adjusted and matchup’s are a huge part of the selection process, further proving that this is a game of skill.

    The contests are set up in a way that pay out the top 15-20% of all the entries in a given contest. That means that 80-85% of all entries are losers! Even if you’re really good at it, you’ll lose your fair share of entries as players/teams can and do underperform, let alone injuries that may happen in any game.

    There are reports that state the top 10% of players win most of the money week after week. This is the case because they lay down the most amount of wagers and/or lineup’s thus greatly increasing their chances of hitting it big in any given contest. The prize pools are very top heavy, so winning or coming in the top 2-3% of any given contest can net you x10-x1000+ worth your initial wager!

    As for these two yahoo’s trying to get their “lost wagers” back, grow up and take accountability for being bad at daily fantasy sports!! You lost, get over it! Good luck taking on a multi-billion dollar industry and their lawyers! I’ve brought up a few decent points here that pretty much debunk this “class action law suit” and I’m just a normal guy sitting in my sweatpants that knows some of the facts surrounding this “issue.” Lol.

    As far as the future of daily fantasy, I would like to see some more transparency with these organizations and possibly some regulations, but they’re not going anywhere fast! Nevada was quick to halt action in their state as they saw a big enough drop off in their own profit machine! But this is 7-8 years after these companies first started taking wagers. That won’t work in any other state, lol.

    This is an established business that has really just recently exploded into the billions, and only getting bigger. If everything’s on the up & up, and they comply with investigations into their business, so long as there’s no wrong doing, they’ll be around for a long, long time! And I’ll keep making money while losers like these complain about being bad at fantasy sports & want their money back. SMH…

  3. This is a JOKE…being from Ohio I am pissed to say the least….Scott Tyler and Owen Mcgrew GET A LIFE YOU LOSERS! Fanduel has been around since 2009 and you’re just now trting to sue?? Hmmm I wonder what thats about? There is only three reasons why these two pathetic fools would do this…1. They are the “taddle tell” type…..or 2. They are terrible at DFS and lost money….or 3. They are trying to make a name for themselves. Either way I hope thay they lose although they probably won’t….If DFS gets banned I will not be voting in this election or any other for the forseeable future.

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