DraftKings is getting an invoice in penalty from the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) over self-exclusion failings.
The sportsbook has been ordered to pay a $10,000 civil penalty for sending “promotional mailings” to 11 self-excluded individuals, the DGE announced Wednesday.
That’s in violation of New Jersey sports betting regulations, specifically N.J.A.C. 13:69G-2.4(b)1.
The order was dated March 18, although only made public this week.
What did DraftKings say?
DraftKings acknowledged the error in a statement.
The operator’s SVP of regulatory operations Tim Dent said:
“Nothing is more important than providing a safe experience for our customers. We remain committed to operating an industry-leading approach to customer protections.”
Previous issues in NJ sports betting
This is not the first time DraftKings suffered self-exclusion failings in NJ sports betting. In 2019, the DGE gave DraftKings a $2,000 civil penalty for sending promotional emails and direct marketing to self-excluded customers.
The same year, DraftKings paid another $5,000 fine. On this occasion, 54 customers who requested a cooling off period were able to place bets. DraftKings said a software glitch accidentally set the ‘cooling off’ period to zero days.
More recently, the company paid a $5,000 fine in Iowa for a similar issue, as well as a $3,000 fine in Indiana.
Self-exclusion snafus elsewhere
Accidentally marketing to self-excluded customers is an occasional failing in online gambling. It has warranted a much larger fine in other regulated jurisdictions around the world, particularly for repeat offenders
In 2018, for example, the UK Gambling Commission fined an operator $900,000 for sending emails to self-excluded customers. The commission also suspended licenses for firms who failed to put a nationwide self-exclusion program in place.
