Why Did The NJ Sports Betting Regulator Just Fine DraftKings?


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NJ sports betting

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.