WATCH: Draft Kings Banned in NY; Is MA Next?

On the heels of New York’s “hasty” decision to declare daily fantasy sports illegal gambling and bar Boston-based Draft Kings from accepting fees from New York residents, there is concern among some that Massachusetts could be next.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday issued cease-and-desist letters to Draft Kings and rival FanDuel, banning New York residents from playing daily fantasy sports. Despite arguments showing fantasy sports to be skill games not based on chance, Schneiderman deemed the sports games “illegal gambling.”

“Our investigation has found that, unlike traditional fantasy sports, daily fantasy sports companies are engaged in illegal gambling under New York law, causing the same kinds of social and economic harms as other forms of illegal gambling, and misleading New York consumers,” Schneiderman’s office said in a statement.

New York wasn’t the first state to go after daily fantasy sports, and may not be the last. The state of Nevada has declared the games to be a form of gambling in need of a state license. Draft Kings and FanDuel promptly pulled out of Nevada, but plan to fight for their legal rights in New York.

Now, Massachusetts —the home of Draft Kings, in which New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a stake — may follow New York’s lead. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has announced she is reviewing the legality of daily fantasy websites like Draft Kings.

“The point is this: This is a new industry. It’s something that we’re reviewing, and we’ll learn more about it,” Healey said when asked about the legality of the business recently.

Draft Kings has a recruited a powerful local ally in its fight to continue providing daily fantasy sports to millions of consumers. Healey’s predecessor, former Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley is representing Draft Kings as a legal advisor

“We think its a flawed legal argument,” Coakley said of Schneiderman’s ruling. “It’s certainly done too hastily, and unfortunately, it impacts the hundreds of thousands of players and this new, smart consumer tech industry.”

Daily fantasy websites allow players to pay to draft a team of NFL players, whose actual statistics in Sunday’s games translate into fantasy points for their owners in DraftKings and others. The teams with the most fantasy points in their fantasy league win cash prizes. The games extend to other sports, as well, allowing gamers to draft basketball, baseball and hockey players, even golfers.

Some government representatives consider this gambling, no different than secretly meeting with a bookie to lay the points and bet the house on the outcome of Monday night’s game. Such games of chance are illegal, at least outside of government-regulated casinos.

That, according to Peter Schoenke, chairman of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, is the key difference. Playing fantasy football is not a game of chance; rather, an exercise of skill. The best fantasy players spent countless hours pouring over statistics, weekly match-ups and past performances to draft the best players while staying within a virtual salary cap. It is not chance that a fantasy owner wins. It is his or her skill in identifying the best players and formulating a strategy to get them that determines the weekly outcomes.

“These are skill-based games that match sports fans against each other in a contest of sports knowledge and strategy that is fundamentally different from wagering on the performance of an individual player or the outcome of a particular game,” Schoenke told the Boston Globe.