Daily fantasy sports site DraftKings has pulled its advertising on ESPN and the network has suspended branded segments featuring the site during its news and information programming following a report that employees of the fantasy sports site have placed bets based on non-public information.
DraftKings and its rival, FanDuel, have been huge TV spenders, particularly since the start of the NFL season.
ESPN said its suspension of branded segments was being reviewed on a day-to-day basis.
According to the New York Times, a DraftKIngs employee admitted to inadvertently releasing data before the start of the third week of NFL games. The employee won $350,000 on FanDuel the same week.
The New York attorney general began an inquiry into the daily fantasy sports site, which have been largely unregulated.Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, renewed his call for congressional hearings on the legal status of fantasy sports leagues Tuesday
Both FanDuel and DraftKings released statements defending their business integrity on Monday, the paper said.
As of the end of September, DraftKings had spent $122 million on advertising and FanDuel had spent $60 million, according to iSpotTV.com.
Fox said it was "monitoring the situation very closely."
In July, DraftKings riased $300 milion in funding from a group led by Fox Sports. Also among those involved in the funding were the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, The Madison Square Garden Co., and the Dodger Ownership Group.
