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The mayor of Baltimore has sued both FanDuel and DraftKings over what it calls "shady practices" pertaining to promo offers.
This represents the first case brought by an American public entity against online sportsbooks since Supreme Court decision allowing states to legalize sports betting.
From SportsPro:
The complaint, which was filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, a state court, on 3rd April alleges that DraftKings and Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, use misleading promotions to attract consumers and then leverage data and analytics to keep problem gamblers betting.
The complaint says these practices are in violation of the city’s Consumer Protection Ordinance.
According to the lawsuit, FanDuel and DraftKings acquire new users by offering bonus bets as a reward for signing up. These are often only valid for seven days, which the complaint states encourages frequent betting in the early stages.
Once users start betting, the companies collect data on them and use the data to identify those most likely to bet more, the lawsuit alleges.
Both FanDuel and DraftKings are licensed to operate in the state of Maryland along with nine other operators that include: BetMGM, Caesars, Fanatics, BetRivers, ESPN Bet, Bally Bet, Crab Sports (exclusive to the state), BetPARX and LetsBetMD (also exclusive to the state).
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