IEB on DraftKings’ case

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has sicced the investigations enforcement bureau (IEB) on DraftKings for sending over 1.2 million Massachusetts residents unsolicited emails.

184 recipients who were on a voluntary exclusion list.”

Sportsbetting Dime cited an IEB counsel as stating DraftKings sent out the flood of erroneous emails in August, including: “184 recipients who were on a voluntary exclusion list.”

The Boston-based sportsbook wrongly emailed people all over the US alerting them to an upcoming “bonus bet” for wagering on golf. Trouble is, of the 1.2 million emails hitting mostly DraftKings customers’ inboxes in Massachusetts, some weren’t registered with the sportsbook, while many never even placed any wagers on the golf tournament.?

The MGC unanimously agreed to escalate the case to the IEB with DraftKings set to face the music before both the investigator and the MGC at an adjudicatory hearing.

Sanctions loom

General Counsel for the IEB Zachary Mercer stated DraftKings sent out 1,230,520 emails to Massachusetts residents, including the nearly 200 residents who’d voluntarily registered themselves on the state’s exclusion list.

The counsel said if the adjudicators deemed the contentious emails as advertising, marketing, or branding, then DraftKings would be guilty of violating Massachusetts gaming laws.

essentially an entire database worth of email addresses”

According to Mercer, because some recipients weren’t registered with DraftKings, he believes the emails went out in error to individuals on company marketing lists. Mercer elaborated that it was “essentially an entire database worth of email addresses.”

What’s more, MGC Commissioner Nakisha Skinner has also told the IEB to find out if any of the email recipients were under 21.

What golf bet?

The emails in question told recipients that a “dead heat reduction” was used to decide the result of a golf tournament where “two or more golfers tied for the same winning position.”

The communication told recipients of a “bonus bet” they’d be getting for the sum of their original wager as a one-off courtesy. “We are writing in regards to the bet(s) you placed on this past weekends golf tournament(s),” the communique began.

Many DraftKings’-registered recipients of the email, however, never placed a bet on the golf, leading them to think their accounts were “hacked or compromised.” While DraftKings had communicated its mistake to users, it simply claimed it wrongly sent out more emails than it originally planned.