‘Accidental Godfather of Fantasy Sports’ Feels Guilty and Maybe Bitter
In DFS911.com’s continuing series “Daily Fantasy F***ed” reporter Pauly Mosconi looks at the man who invented Fantasy Sports, Dan Okrent.
He is now being referred to as the “Accidental Godfather of Fantasy Sports” and, by default, the man responsible for today’s Wild West unregulated Daily Fantasy Sports industry.
“I feel like J. Robert Oppenheimer, having invented the atomic bomb,’’’ Dan Okrent said last weekend. “I meant it for peaceful purposes.’’
Not only does he feel guilty, he may also be feeling a bit jilted.
Okrent hasn’t exactly profited from his invention and, in an odd twist, some have suggested it was he who helped blow open the doors regarding a current controversy surrounding DFS behemoths DraftKings and FanDuel.
Both companies have been implicated in a possible insider trading scheme. At the very least they helped to foster a climate in which such activity is possible. Last week, a DraftKings employee was accused of having access to such data that may have resulted in a $350,000 win playing a FanDuel contest. The verdict is still out on this matter.
Sure there are more regulatory-minded DFS companies the likes of white lable DFS software providers Star Fantasy Leagues, but many see the constant never-ending flow of fresh investor money pouring into both FanDuel and DraftKings as corrupting factors Okrent could never have dreamt of back in the late 1970’s.
Read Mosconi’s report here for more.
- Payton O’Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor
