Gamblers’ Lawsuit Against Baseball Sign-Stealing Is Tossed Out

Major League Baseball’s sign-stealing scandal doesn’t give users of the DraftKings fantasy sports site a reason to sue for fraud, a judge in New York ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff threw out a suit by DraftKings Inc. users against the league and the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox. Both teams were implicated in using electronic means to intercept hand signals by opposing catchers, giving their batters an illegal advantage.

The plaintiffs claimed in a proposed class action lawsuit that sign-stealing caused them to lose money on corrupted games.

”Did the initial efforts of those teams, and supposedly of Major League Baseball itself, to conceal these foul deeds from the simple sports bettors who wagered on fantasy baseball create a cognizable legal claim?” the judge, an avowed fan of the New York Yankees, asked in a 32-page opinion. “On the allegations here made, the answer is no.”

Read More: Major League Baseball Wants to Keep Sign-Stealing Probe Secret

To contact the reporter on this story:
Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net

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