ESPN announced it is cutting sponsored daily fantasy sports advertisements from within its shows after a DraftKings employee won $350,000 on FanDuel during an incident likened to insider trading. The major US sports fantasy companies defended their businesses' integrity on Monday after an employee used insider information to place bets in the unregulated multi-billion-dollar industry. A DraftKings manager admitted last week he released information detailing the percentages of entrants who selected certain fantasy players before winning $350,000 in a contest on FanDuel. The data released by DraftKings manage Ethan Haskell showed what NFL players were most used in lineups submitted to the site's Millionaire Maker contests, the New York Times reported.DraftKings manager released inside info and won money on rival FanDuelInfo detailed percentages of entrants who selected certain fantasy playersRaises questions about integrity of unregulated multi-billion-dollar industrySports fantasy companies defended their businesses' integrity togetherESPN is cutting sponsored ads in shows but will run regular commercialsIndustry calls daily fantasy a skill - not gambling - and it's legal in 45 states
'Nothing is more important to _ and FanDuel than the integrity of the games we offer to our customers,' they said. But companies like DraftKings and _ set up online games in which fans pay an entry fee to a website to play dozens or even hundreds of opponents, with prizes that can reach up to $2million. 'Nothing is more important to DraftKings and _ than the integrity of the games we offer to our customers,' they said.