If you're a daily fantasy sports player who enjoys playing college sports on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, you better cherish this Final Four weekend. It'll be your last chance to play.
Both FanDuel and DraftKings have agreed to to suspend college sports games on their respective websites after reaching an agreement with the NCAA. ESPN.com reports that the daily fantasy sites have been discussing the situation with the NCAA, member institutions and state legislature for months before coming to this decision.
Both sites will continue college basketball games for this weekend's Final Four, but they'll be the last contests the sites hold.
"FanDuel has had months of productive conversations with the NCAA, their member institutions and various state legislators to better understand their concerns around fantasy sports contests based on amateur athletics," a FanDuel spokesperson told ESPN.com. "It is clear that this is an issue that matters to a variety of constituencies and we feel that the best path forward is to suspend offering these contests pending resolution on the issue within state legislatures."
DraftKings issued a similar statement, saying the decision is "the best path forward for the industry at this time."
The NCAA also released a statement happy with the action taken by FanDuel and DraftKings.
"We appreciate and commend DraftKings and FanDuel's action to stop offering contests involving college, high school and youth sports. This action culminates months of hard work between all parties to reach a place that is good for amateur sports and most importantly, the young people who participate. We will work diligently with our member schools over the coming year to ensure such amateur sports 'carve outs' are included in pending states' legislation."
The decision really doesn't come as much of a surprise. It wasn't that long ago we saw the end of EA Sports' NCAA Football video game series, and if you can no longer create video games without giving athletes their rightful share, it's only logical that daily fantasy sites wouldn't be able to continue their contests involving the same players.
CBS has an investment in FanDuel of less than 1 percent of that company's value.
