The daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel on Monday agreed to stop offering paid contests in New York in a settlement with state attorney general Eric Schneiderman. The sites are big TV advertisers and have received investments from prominent media companies (including Comcast and Fox Sports) but have come under fire as essentially gambling sites, and not the games of skill their promoters claim.

DraftKings and FanDuel announced the settlements on Monday as Schneiderman withdrew prior cease-and-desist orders against them, while continuing to pursue claims of false advertising and consumer fraud. The ban is in effect until September, when a state appeals-court ruling is expected, or until the state legislature legalizes daily fantasy sports, USA Todayreported.

Schneiderman has said he believes the two sites are "totally unregulated gambling venues," Legal Sports Report reported. New York is the largest market for daily fantasy sports and some two dozen states are now looking at legislation governing daily fantasy sports, perThe Wall Street Journal.  

Links to the settlements are here and here.

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TV made a big contribution to the growth of daily fantasy sports over the past three years, the Video Advertising Bureau said.

Daily fantasy sports companies, led by DraftKings and FanDuel, spent $300 million on TV advertising over the last three years and have built themselves into households names and substantial business, VAB said.

The fantasy sports business now is under pressure as state authorities question whether or not it is a form of illegal gambling. Some states have threatened to close the sites to their residents, and a leading payment handler plans to stop doing business with the industry at the end of the month.

But some in the business are predicting that while the legal challenges have people nervous, they might return to their free-spending ways.

Between August and November alone, as the NFL football season started, DraftKings spent $123.4 million on national TV ads, according to iSpot.tv. FanDuel spent $136.5 million. Spending tailed off after that with DraftKings spending $3.1 million and FanDuel just $1.1 million.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.