New Jersey regulator fines DraftKings for inaccurate sports betting reporting
DraftKings overstated the amount of money that had been wagered on parlay bets.
US.- The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has fined DraftKings $100,000 for reporting inaccurate sports betting data, which the regulator said amounts to “gross errors and failures.”
The reporting errors resulted from DraftKings overstating the amount of money that had been wagered on parlay bets as well as understating other categories of wagers. The inaccurate data caused Resorts Digital, the online arm of Resorts Casino, to file incorrect sports betting tax returns for December 2023 and January and February 2024.
“These types of gross errors and failures cannot be tolerated in the New Jersey gaming regulatory system,” wrote DGE interim director Mary Jo Flaherty in a letter to DraftKings on June 16. “They evidenced weaknesses in DraftKings’ business abilities and casino experience and unacceptable conduct in dealing with regulations and requisite reporting and financial systems.”
Flaherty added that the incident, “reflects negatively upon the state of New Jersey and the gaming industry.” She noted that the DGE had not had to post corrected financial data in an amended monthly press release in more than a decade.
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The corrected data filed to the DGE showed 52 of 60 individual data points regarding win and handle for the three affected months, representing an error rate of 87 per cent. Although the DGE’s Office of Financial Investigations (OFI) had informed DraftKings and Resorts on March 8 that they had found abnormal parlay reporting for December and January, DraftKings’ February report published on March 10 contained similar errors.
Flaherty’s letter noted that the DGE is authorised to issue penalties of $20,000 per violation. DraftKings offered to pay a $100,000 fine, which DGE accepted.