DALLAS – Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has reached a verdict on certain politicians in New York, Illinois and Texas.

They’re wrong about daily fantasy sports, he said. “Absolutely wrong.”

Since October, the attorneys general in each of those states have declared that paid daily fantasy sports games are illegal under state gambling laws. New York is even going to court to claw back money from DraftKings and FanDuel, the biggest two companies in the industry.

Cuban described it as hypocrisy and told the industry to mobilize against it.

“Seeing politicians just do something for skins on the wall, to try to make a name for themselves, that pisses me off, as much as anything,” Cuban said in a keynote address here Wednesday at the annual winter meeting of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. “That’s one of the reasons I’m here right now supporting you, because it’s wrong. It’s absolutely wrong. And if this leads the charge to really define what gambling really is, without nuanced definitions depending on what state you’re in and who’s reading it, that’s a good thing. If this leads to gambling being legalized and brought above ground, that’s a good thing.”

His remarks were welcomed by about 400 members of the fantasy sports industry just a day after they received a different kind of greeting Tuesday from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton:

“A court would likely determine that participation in daily fantasy sports leagues is illegal gambling,” Paxton argued in an opinion issued Tuesday — the same day that many fantasy sports industry members arrived in Texas for the meeting.

The news once again shook the industry, which already has been under siege because of similar determinations by the attorneys general in two other huge markets — New York and Illinois.

Now this — the latest act in a drama that might take several years to run its course over many states.

‘Gambling 101’

Cuban recently was announced as an investor and partner in Fantasy Labs, a fantasy-related sports data company. He likened the daily fantasy crackdowns to his own recent legal situation, starting in 2008, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of insider trading. A jury cleared him in 2013.

“The people at the SEC that I had to deal with were just stupid,” Cuban told the crowd. “They weren’t marginally smart. They weren’t partially smart. They were as idiotic and as ridiculous as you can possibly get. Sound familiar?”

The remark drew laughs, but the mood at the conference was otherwise quite serious.

“This is a turbulent time,” FSTA president Paul Charchian said in the meeting’s opening remarks Wednesday.

After originally scheduling this week’s meeting in Las Vegas, the FSTA canceled those plans in protest last fall when the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued an order to daily fantasy sports companies: Cease operating in that state unless you obtain gambling licenses.

So the group turned instead to Texas, where the government usually has a reputation of being pro-business and anti-regulation.

It just doesn’t condone “betting on the performance of individuals in games or contests,” according to Paxton’s opinion Tuesday. A spokeswoman for Paxton said the opinion “speaks for itself” and declined to say what it could mean for daily fantasy sports companies in the future.

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is trying to shut down the companies in his state with a pending lawsuit. In Illinois, DraftKings and FanDuel are trying to prevent Attorney General Lisa Madigan from taking enforcement action on them after declaring daily fantasy sports illegal in December.

The legal argument in these states and others often hinges on the notion of skill vs. chance. The companies argue that daily fantasy sports are games of skill and therefore legal, unlike games of chance or luck in traditional gambling. In exchange for an entry fee, daily fantasy sports customers can win cash prizes depending on the statistical performance of real-life players they select to their rosters.

Cuban compared it to the stock market, which is legal even though it also arguably involves more chance than skill.

“It’s the ultimate in hypocrisy,” he said. “Literally picking a (daily fantasy) lineup is an analogous as you can get to owning a team without owning a team. Gambling in the stock market is Gambling 101 right now because you have absolutely no clue why things are happening or what’s going to happen or whether or not it’s even safe.”

‘State after state after state’

Until recently, the companies had been seen as relatively safe, high-growth investments. The NBA said it had an equity stake in FanDuel, while Major League Baseball said it had a stake in DraftKings. But then came last fall, when Nevada and New York took action.

Industry officials always denied that daily fantasy sports was sports betting, thereby hoping to avoid being regulated like traditional sports gambling, which is largely illegal outside of Nevada.

At the same time, the industry clearly wanted to appeal to customers who might be inclined to risk money on sports for the chance to win cash. FanDuel and DraftKings made this their biggest selling point last summer when they bombarded the airwaves with advertisements.

“After Monday night’s game, winners get paid — cash,” said one FanDuel TV ad.

The marketing pitch worked, gaining the companies scores of new customers. But it also backfired, drawing complaints and attracting the attention of lawmakers, law enforcement and potential plaintiffs.

A flash of controversy then ignited that fuel in October, when it was learned that a DraftKings employee won $350,000 on a FanDuel contest, raising questions about possible insider trading.  Though the companies denied wrongdoing, the flames were fanned and continue to burn.

“Most attorneys general didn’t know what fantasy sports was before September,” said Doug Gansler, the former Maryland attorney general who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting.  “And then a couple of things happened: a lot of ads and so forth. Right now, state after state after state is going to continue down that line.”

The companies hope that state legislatures can douse it with cold water, legalizing the games and making these recent legal opinions moot. It won’t be easy.

“It’s very, very, very difficult to pass legislation,” said Jeremy Kudon, an attorney who has represented daily fantasy sports companies.

Cuban told the companies the crisis ultimately could lead to regulation and legal clarity. But he also warned them that traditional, season-long fantasy sports are risk, too. So far, daily fantasy sports have suffered the brunt of the crackdowns in part because they more closely resemble traditional sports gambling.

“You need to mobilize your fans,” Cuban said.  “You need to tell them even regular (season-long) fantasy is at risk. It really is, because if they (politicians) get on a roll or think they’re on a roll, then they’re going to find some other way. Even though their focus is (daily fantasy) right now, there’s nothing that’s going to say the stupidity of the politician won’t (go to season-long) fantasy sports because his nephew or niece plays too many hours and got a C in spelling. That’s the logic sometimes.”

Follow sports reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com