DraftKings Fails to Pay Out on Time in National Championship

DraftKings have just concluded their inaugural Sports Betting National Championship on Sunday, January 13. What followed was concerns that not all customers have been paid on time, hindering them from progressing further

DraftKings’ Sports Betting National Championship Experience Difficulties

The Sports Betting National Championship by DraftKings was a much-anticipated event with the betting bonanza culminating on Sunday, January 13. However, a string of unprocessed bets made the top contenders miss out on $1-million cash prize and leave them with a bitter aftertaste.

DraftKings has apologized, but is an apology worth $1 million and more in hard currency? According to the top contestant, they had missed out on a golden opportunity to bank on the final of the competition based on the National Football League (NFL) because of previously unprocessed bets by DraftKings.

The competition saw 260 entrants all eager to secure a piece of the $2.5 million prize pool, with the participants in the event either putting own $10,000 entry-fee themselves or winning a satellite event.

All individuals had to be in New Jersey in order to take part in the event which was accessible through DraftKings’ mobile app.

What Happened in the Last Day?

On Sunday, the New England Patriots were playing San Diego Chargers. With the game turning out to be a heated contest, the duration of the match extended until just a few minutes before the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints game was due, leading to processing delays.

As a result, DraftKings was unable to process all wagers on time, keeping the tournament play funds of some players inaccessible. Rufus “Opti5624” Peabody was among the unlucky individuals to get stuck with their funds, after covering a 3.5-point spread in favour of the Patriots.

The issue for many, though, turned out to be the fact that some players had been paid out, letting them continue with a follow-up bet on the game between Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans, which was reason for negative reactions.

While we must follow our contest rules, we sincerely apologize for the experience several customers had where their bets were not graded in time to allow wagering on the Saints-Eagles game. We will learn from this experience and improve upon the rules and experience for future events.

DraftKings hurried up to issue an official statement in which the company highlighted the “thrill” of the competition and admitted that the first game had led to the company’s delay in processing some of the bets.

Call Off the Hounds

Finally, it was Randy Lee from New Jersey who managed to finish the competition first with $101,472, having amassed nearly $82,000 in extra cash throughout the event. So far, there have been no official complaints against DraftKings other than the disappointment that the event didn’t go according to plan.

There have been suggestions that the NJ Department of Gaming Enforcement, the state’s regulator could be involved, but none of this has happened so far.