DraftKings, the popular Massachusetts-based sports betting company, is facing a class-action lawsuit over a signing bonus that was offered to new customers, which the lawsuit says had some misleading terms.
The $1,000 bonus at the heart of the lawsuit, filed in Middlesex Superior Court Friday by the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University, had fine print that revealed it would only be paid out if customers made an initial deposit of $5,000 and gambled $25,000 within 90 days on bets with odds of -300 or longer.
"Even if one were to try to read it, I don't think an average consumer is going to make heads or tails out of most of these terms," said Mark Gottlieb, executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute.
In a letter to the institute, DraftKings said their promotion contained clear terms and that advertising about the promotion didn't claim all users would receive $1,000, and that the customers being represented the lawsuit did in fact receive the bonus rewards they were entitled to.
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Asked about the lawsuit, DraftKings told NBC10 Boston it "respectfully disagrees with the claims and allegations made by the Public Health Advocacy Institute" and said the center ignored attempts to meet and discuss their concerns.
Gottlieb said the lawsuit isn't intended to end DraftKings' operations: "We just want them to just try and market their products fairly."
