Another lawsuit is taking issue with the large deposit bonuses DraftKings offers to users.
Filed in the Eastern Pennsylvania District Court, the new suit comes from five DraftKings customers and aims to be a class action others can potentially join in down the line.
Suit takes issue with complicated bonus offers
Like many other suits brought against DraftKings, this one centers largely around its $1,000 deposit bonus. As others have argued, the suit claims the terms to clear the maximum value of the bonus are difficult to understand, complex and require a substantial amount of play in order to maximize the value of the offer.
“DraftKings attracts new users and keeps existing users coming back by advertising an all-upside gambling experience, falsely promising users that they will get free money which they can wager without any risk. In reality, DraftKings has created an all-upside opportunity only for itself: the hidden terms of its promotions require users to deposit and gamble almost exclusively with their own money, which they almost always lose,” the suit reads.
Plaintiffs include self-excluded gambler
The plaintiffs comprise a range of alleged experiences with DraftKings. While one was just a standard VIP player, one is someone who placed themselves on the self-exclusion list in 2022 but said he was able to sign up on both DraftKings and Golden Nugget apps in 2024 and wager tens of thousands of dollars.
Another claimed he struggled to keep his wagering under control and requested DraftKings close his account in 2020. He claimed that he lost more than $350,000 between the time he requested the account closure and the time it was actually closed, which did not come until 2024. He also said the account had $45,000 in it when DraftKings closed that has yet to be returned to him.
Finally, there is a plaintiff who signed up for DraftKings after seeing ads on social media platforms like TikTok and now struggles with gambling addiction.
Major focus on playthrough of casino bonus
Some of the lawsuits brought against DraftKings, such as the one moving forward in Massachusetts, focus solely on sports betting, but this one also takes a closer look at the terms and conditions for the casino side of the business.
The suit highlighted a 2023 promotion that offered a $2,000 deposit match bonus offered at DraftKings Casino. Like most casino bonuses, the offer came with a playthrough requirement, meaning players would need to playthrough both the deposit amount and the bonus ten times each in order to maximize its value.
Like many other casino bonuses, the percentage users were credited on playthrough amounts also varied based on which game users played, with table games like blackjack requiring a higher rate than something like slots.
Using these terms, the suit suggested the following about the offer, which needed to be fulfilled in seven days:
“This means that, assuming a hand of blackjack takes ~1 minute, a user betting $50 every hand would have to spend more than 66 hours in a seven-day period playing blackjack to satisfy the playthrough requirement. That amounts to almost ten hours of blackjack a day, without stopping to eat or go to the bathroom.”
The suit also alleged that users unable to satisfy the playthrough requirements and opting out of the bonus program were at risk of losing not just their bonus but their initial deposit as well.
The suit argues that DraftKings is, among other allegations, legally negligent, violating state consumer protection laws, unjust and intentional misrepresentation. The group is seeking damages for any qualifying members of the class.
DraftKings being sued in numerous states
DraftKings is being sued for advertising-related activity in Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and, now, Pennsylvania.
Earlier this month, the city of Baltimore also filed suit against DraftKings as well as FanDuel claiming the two big operators were intentionally preying on vulnerable people with gambling problems.
So far most of these suits are still in the early stages, but the suit in the Massachusetts state court is moving forward after DraftKings’ motion to dismiss was denied.
