After receiving bad news on Friday morning from the New York Supreme Court (that they could not continue operating in the state until a wider court case was resolved), DraftKings, FanDuel and the daily fantasy industry have been granted a stay after appealing the preliminary injunction.

The news broke via ESPN’s Darren Rovell:

The first announcement was made following New York Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez’s ruling that he had granted the request for a preliminary injunction banning all daily fantasy activity in New York for the interim period (until a wider court case was ruled on). New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed for and was granted his preliminary injunction by Justice Mendez, with Draftkings and FanDuel immediately appealing the decision.

The likelihood of the appeal succeeding (and the “stay” being granted) is still considered minimal by legal experts, however in the short term, the “stay” now permits DraftKings to remain open for business in one of its most important states. Here’s what that means in terms of timing. This could prove pivotal for DraftKings (which is the only major daily fantasy operator still allowing New Yorkers to play) as the NFL regular season draws to a close:

Here’s the DraftKings statement:

We are disappointed with the Court’s decision, and have filed a notice of appeal and an expedited motion to stay the Court’s decision, pending our appeal, in order to preserve the status quo. This immediate stay was granted, so we will remain fully operational in New York.

We look forward to a full and fair hearing and are confident we will demonstrate clearly to the Court why we should be able to continue to offer our DFS games in New York permanently.

We are encouraged by our dialogue this week with New York state legislators. We look forward to continuing that conversation.

In an unusual decision, the daily fantasy companies were granted a temporary reprieve.
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