New Jersey Fines DraftKings over Revenue Reporting Violations

New Jersey’s gambling regulators have slapped the American gambling juggernaut DraftKings with a $100,000 over what they called “unacceptable conduct.” According to the state’s gambling authority, DraftKings had provided inaccurate sports betting data to the state.

The violation in question involved overstating the amount of money spent on parlay bets and reporting wrong figures.

As a result of the inaccurate data, Resorts Casino’s online arm, Resorts Digital, filed incorrect sports betting tax returns for the December 2023 – February 2024 period. The company eventually corrected the documents.

In addition to undermining DraftKings credibility and business ability, the operator’s errors also forced the NJ authority to have operators post corrected financial data for several months – something that had not happened in 13 years.

While Resorts Casino refrained from commenting on the matter, DraftKings told the authorities that the violation was due to a coding error that miscategorized some of the wagers. In a letter to the state, the company admitted that it did not give the needed attention to the matter and failed to report it in time.

DraftKings explained that it wrongly assumed that the errors didn’t affect taxable income and did not require immediate reporting. In response, the division said that even though this violation did not affect gross revenue and taxes due on that revenue, it still led to changes in the monthly tax return.

DraftKings Is Committed to Complying with the Rules

In a letter to DraftKings, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement described the operator’s violation as “intolerable” and incompatible with New Jersey’s gaming regulatory system.

Mary Jo Flaherty, acting director of the division, further added that New Jersey’s regulator became suspicious of the way DraftKings reports its sports wagering revenue after the company committed similar violations in Illinois and Oregon.

Flaherty and the division, therefore, suspected that the same problems might be happening in New Jersey as well.

DraftKings admitted that it had made a mistake and added that the error in its reporting has already been corrected. The company reiterated its commitment to remaining compliant with New Jersey’s gambling rules.

In addition, the operator promised the Division of Gaming Enforcement that the significance of this error has been communicated to its staff and that additional monitoring has been put in place.