(credit: Ian Kennedy)

Update (12a, Saturday 12/12): An appeals court in New York has issued an emergency stay of a lower-court’s ruling that daily fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings must shut down their New York operations. “The day has ended well and now New Yorkers who love daily fantasy sports can continue to play,” Randy Mastro, DraftKings’ attorney, told the Washington Post. “The takeaway from today is these are legal questions that deserve a full airing. We believe that when we have our full day in court, we will prevail.”

Original story: On Friday, New York Supreme Court Judge Manuel Mendez ruled that FanDuel and DraftKings—two daily fantasy sports websites—must cease operations in New York, at least as long as the two companies are embroiled in a legal dispute with the state attorney general over whether their businesses constitute an illegal lottery.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has maintained that the two sites promote daily betting on fantasy sports and advertise their services as a path to easy money. Although both New York-based FanDuel and Boston-based DraftKings have been operating for a number of years, the two sites have garnered attention this fall for their aggressive marketing campaigns, especially during National Football League games.