Deposit bonuses have long been the marketing lifeblood of the gaming industry, but may be about to change. Across the country the practice is being challenged in court by aggrieved players who say that bonus deposits contain playthrough requirements and other hoops to jump through that make using those bonuses all but impossible. A recent investigation of deposit bonuses in Connecticut led to DraftKings refunding 7,000 players a total of $3 million.
The Connecticut refund was DraftKings voluntary response to an investigation of bonus offer practices by the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). That investigation was spurred on by claims that DraftKings was not transparent with regards to the playthrough requirements, and other fine print, required to actually earn the bonus.
DraftKings elected to settle the matter by refunding players who accepted the bonus offers between October 2021 and January 2023 a total of $3 million. What DraftKings did not do was acknowledge any wrongdoing in the matter. The company has, however, agreed that it will cease offers that, “require a consumer to play through their deposit and bonus more than one time without clearly disclosing the required playthrough to the patron.” The agreement also included a clause requiring DraftKings to list what type of currency its bonus offers pay out on its website.
A company spokesperson defended its bonus practices in a statement given to SBC Americas saying, “DraftKings is committed to operating in compliance with all regulatory requirements. We value our relationship with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and will continue to work collaboratively with them.”