Unexpected cancellation required decisions to be made
No person or company is ever happy when they are the target of a lawsuit, but DraftKings is really mad about a class action lawsuit filed by one of its customers in January. In a memorandum filed in US District Court in Massachusetts, DraftKings’ lawyers called for the lawsuit to be thrown out.
The suit revolves around the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills on January 2, a key matchup between two of the AFC’s powers. Less than six minutes into the game, Damar Hamlin took a blow to the chest when making a tackle and collapsed on the field after suffering a cardiac arrest. The game was suspended and cancelled by the NFL a few days later.
That, of course, posed a problem for sportsbooks, daily fantasy sites, and their customers, as they had to figure out what to do about bets and contests dependent on the game. On January 3, DraftKings announced that all bets on the game that had not been determined would be refunded in full.
As for DFS, among other decisions, DraftKings canceled and refunded all entries for Showdown and Flash Draft contests, per the terms of its site. This is what prompted the class action lawsuit from plaintiff Simpson G. Turley.
At the time the game was suspended and eventually called off, one of Turley’s DFS entries was in first place in a $20,000 contest and another was in second in a $15,000 contest. He believes he was going to win $8,000 and is upset that the contests were canceled and entries fees refunded.
Plaintiff, defendant take shots at each other
“DraftKings arbitrarily chose to apply the statistics from the suspended Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game (as played up to 5:58 remaining in the first quarter) to certain contests and offer payouts to customers leading in those contests, while refusing to apply the same statistics from the game to other contests and refusing to offer the same payouts to customers leading in those contests,” Turley’s suit reads.
“These determinations by DraftKings are improper, are in violation of DraftKings’ own contest rules, are a breach of contract, violate state consumer protection laws, and deprive Plaintiff Turley and the Class Members of winnings to which they are undoubtedly entitled,” the complaint states.
DraftKings believes this is just a money grab by Turley, trying to capitalize on a scary on-field situation (Hamlin, fortunately, survived, and is back at home).
“Plaintiffs are now trying to capitalize on the tragic and unprecedent circumstances of the unfinished Game – contrary to the applicable Showdown Rules,” DraftKings’ lawyers said.
“Because Plaintiffs were allegedly winning in their respective Showdown contests at the time the Game was postponed, Plaintiffs are unhappy that the Showdown Rules required DraftKings to refund the entry fees of all contestants rather than pay Plaintiffs their alleged winnings,” they added.