DraftKings Facing Lawsuit in Massachusetts Over Bonus Bets

• DraftKings faces a class action lawsuit from Massachusetts citizens who opened accounts with DraftKings in response to the $1,000 bonus sign-up promotion.
• The Public Health Advocacy Institute alleges that the $1,000 bonus is “unfair and deceptive” for new customers.
• Richard Daynard spearheads the lawsuit, the same law professor who took down Big Tobacco in a $206 billion settlement.

BOSTON – DraftKings is in hot water over their misleading bonus bet advertising. The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Shane Harris, Melissa Scanlon, and other Massachusetts residents who were deceived and misled by the bonus bet offer.

The class action lawsuit alleges that legal Massachusetts sports betting participants were unaware of the rigorous qualifications for the $1,000 sign up bonus, which requires customers to make a $5,000 deposit and bet at least $25,000 on odds no shorter than -300. After all this occurs, they would qualify for the bonus in form of non-withdrawable credits on DraftKings.

The lawsuit claims that “DraftKings knowingly and unfairly designed its promotion to maximize the number of consumers that would sign up for its sports gambling platform, the number of bets that would be placed through the platform, and the amount of money that would be placed on bets through its platforms. This is a particularly unfair business practice because of the addictive nature of the underlying product offered by Defendant.”

This Predatory Gambling Lawsuit Means Business

Dr. Richard Daynard, Northeastern University Professor of Law and PHAI president, is most notable for providing the legal strategy to taking down Big Tobacco in a $206 billion settlement. He claims that  “massive advertising using unfair and deceptive promotions to hook customers on an addictive product bears an uncanny similarity to what the cigarette companies used to get away with,” said Daynard in a release.

Daynard sees similarities between legal sports betting and Big Tobacco based on their deceptiveness and addictiveness. Since Daynard led the historic lawsuit back in the 1980’s, it’s fair to say that DraftKings won’t be able to get out of this lawsuit unscathed.

News tags: DraftKings | Massachusetts | Public Health Advocacy Institute | Richard Daynard