DraftKings lobbies up

Daily fantasy sports website DraftKings hired its first Washington lobbying firm last month amid lawmaker scrutiny of its business model.

A newly filed disclosure form indicates that the company hired a trio of lobbyists from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP on Sept. 17, days after Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) called for hearings on the daily fantasy sports industry. FanDuel, DraftKing’s main rival, hired its first lobbyists on the same day.

{mosads}DraftKing’s lobbyists — Gary Slaiman, Gary Gallant and Matthew Miner — all have Capitol Hill experience. Miner’s firm bio says one of his specialties is “congressional inquiries and committee investigations.” Politico was the first to report that DraftKings had retained the firm.

Companies like DraftKings and FanDuel are fighting critics who say that the websites, which allow users to draft virtual “teams” and potentially win money based on their performance in a single day, are venues for gambling. Both the House Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees have indicated that they are looking into the industry.

Department of Justice investigators are also reportedly examining the industry while Pallone, along with Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), has called for a separate investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.

Daily fantasy services claim they are legal under an exemption to a 2006 law blocking many forms of online gambling that allowed fantasy sports that are “games of skill.”