FanDuel to pay out disputed $82K football bet
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Upon further review, a New Jersey man will get his full $82,000 payout on a disputed $110 sports bet.
And several other gamblers who made similar bets at wildly inflated odds will also be paid in full, FanDuel said Thursday.
The online sports betting company said it will pay Anthony Prince of Newark the full 750-1 payout he was promised when the company's automated system mistakenly generated long odds on the final moments of the Denver Broncos-Oakland Raiders game on Sunday.
The company initially refused to pay the bet placed at its sports book at the Meadowlands Racetrack, saying it isn't obligated to pay for obvious errors. But FanDuel reversed field after consulting with state gambling regulators.
"Above all else, sports betting is supposed to be fun," the company said in a statement Thursday. "As a result of a pricing error this weekend, it wasn't for some of our customers."
Prince made his bet before a game-winning Denver field goal.
"A 36-yard field goal has approximately an 85 percent chance of success, so the astronomical odds offered on something highly likely to occur was very obviously a pricing error," the company said. "These kinds of issues are rare, but they do happen. We want sports betting to be fun. So, this one's on the house. We are paying out these erroneous tickets and wish the lucky customers well."
Prince was handed his 750-1 ticket with about a minute left in the game, as the Broncos trailed by 2 points on their final drive. Denver kicked a field goal with 6 seconds left to win 20-19, capping a second half comeback that started with the Broncos down 12-0.
FanDuel says its system should have calculated his odds at 1-6, meaning a bettor would have to wager $600 in order to win $100.
Prince bet $110 on the Broncos but was stopped when he went to collect from FanDuel's betting window.
The dispute is one of the earliest for the budding sports betting industry in New Jersey, coming at a time when new sports books are opening in some other states and lawmakers throughout the country consider whether to also jump in for the potential tax revenue. New Jersey challenged a federal ban and won a U.S. Supreme Court decision in May that cleared the way for gambling on games to expand beyond Nevada.
The idea that player money and winnings would be protected and regulated by the state has been a major selling point among sports betting supporters who contrasted legal gambling with shady offshore betting sites where players often have little recourse in disputes.
But gambling regulators also have policies in place to void obvious errors in sports bets.
FanDuel also says it will give away another $82,000 this weekend by adding $1,000 apiece to the accounts of 82 randomly chosen customers
