Terms and Conditions of Playing on Draftkings Sportsbook & Daily Fantasy

terms conditionsThe terms and conditions that govern your experience playing on DraftKings are called the “Terms of Use”. They are there as much to protect you as they are to regulate DraftKings. There are a number of segments which may be confusing to first-time users. Here’s an overview of the important points contained within DraftKing’s Terms of Use. We’ve included eligibility requirements, identity verification, deposit and withdrawal procedures, plus some other helpful points. Your overview will begin with the all-important subject of your privacy.

What Is the DraftKings Privacy Policy?

DraftKings offers not only daily fantasy sports contests, but now posts game odds for legal gambling in the state of New Jersey. The way they handle your privacy is critical to their livelihood. Violations will do more than just damage their reputation. At the forefront of a nationwide push for legalized sports betting, the punitive punishment for violations will be harsh. DraftKings legal team has put a privacy policy in place to protect both your privacy and their legal standing as a prominent leader in legal sports betting and daily fantasy sports for cash. Here are the basics of the privacy policy.

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DraftKings will have the right to collect basic personal information in exchange for the right to utilize their services. That information will include the following:

  • Your first and last name.
  • Your state and country of residence. (Essential to play in certain contests, including DFS).
  • Your DraftKings username and password (passwords are encrypted on the server).
  • The email address you wish to assign to your DraftKings account.
  • There are additional privacy specifications for the financial transactions you may choose to enter into with DraftKings. While you may set up an account for free, and play all the free contests you wish, if you want to deposit funds and play cash games, you must abide by and agree to this part of DraftKing’s privacy policy.

The portion covers both deposits and withdrawals from using DraftKings website or mobile app.

  • Your name and address.
  • The phone number assigned to your DraftKings account.
  • Financial information, including credit card number and billing address, PayPal account information, and social security number to authenticate your identity.
  • If you choose to use the mobile app, your phone number and unique device id are also required.
  • Your personal data and financial information is encrypted on DraftKing’s servers. In addition to the privacy policy requirements to have a user account, plus deposit and withdrawal funds,
  • DraftKings may request additional information for the specific purpose of authenticating your identity and physical location.

Who is Eligible to Play on DraftKings?

1. The next most frequently asked question is who can use the DraftKings platform. If you want to take part in the new DraftKings Sportsbook to bet legally on games and sporting events, you must prove your New Jersey residency. This is a DraftKings policy because it is federal law.

2. DraftKings DFS contests are open to players residing in the United States and Canada. Since the number of states and locations where you can play daily fantasy on DraftKings outnumbers the ones you cannot, here are the states where DFS play is restricted to only free contests.

3. To be eligible to play a DFS contest on DraftKings, you must agree to location verification. Again, this is a DraftKings policy because it is a legal requirement under state law. States with restricted play for DraftKings contests include Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and the state of Washington.

4. New Jersey residents must also agree to location verification. You must supply authenticated documentation to legally use the DraftKings Sportsbook website in New Jersey. Verification is simpler using the mobile app.

5. All you must do to confirm your location and establish an account is to allow DraftKings to use your mobile device’s location. This is a requirement to utilize the Sportsbook website or the online mobile app to place a bet on any sporting event.

6. All DraftKings account users, regardless of their state of residence, United States or Canada, must be at least 18 years old. There are state-specific requirements that you must abide by.
They are as follows:

  • Nebraska and Alabama residents must at least 19 years old when an account is created.
  • Massachusetts residents must be 21 years of age to create an account on DraftKings. Again, Alabama residents are restricted to contests with no cash prize awards.

What Is the DraftKings Website Terms of Service?

Immediately upon registering for a DraftKings account, you automatically consent to the website terms of service. These considerations include, but are not limited to, the following specific rules.

contract

1. Violations of any of these provisions will constant grounds for account suspension or termination. These terms apply to users even after an account has been terminated.

2. Any deposit that is charged back will invalidate your winnings on DraftKings. This invalidation of your winnings and block on withdrawals will stand until the charge back is paid through your account balance, or winnings balance. DraftKings reserves the right to immediately close any account that generates a deposit charge back.

3. No DraftKings employee, or their immediate family, may play any public contest on DraftKings.

4. Athletes (professional or amateur status), agents, team coaches, owners, and employees, referees and league officials, or any of their immediate family members are permitted to play in any contest attached to their league or sport.

5. If you are found using scripts on DraftKings, your account may be immediately and permanently terminated. Scripting is any external method of automatically manipulating the DraftKings website or mobile app.

6. Bots, automated mechanisms to absorb or transfer data – similar to scripting, are also illegal on DraftKings and will constitute immediate account termination.

7. It is illegal to scrape the DraftKings website. This includes the act of scraping contest data or user data and information. If DraftKings discovers you’re scraping data, you will receive a cease and desist letter, plus be reviewed for account termination.

8. Multiple accounts on DraftKings are expressly prohibited. DraftKings will deactivate one account, and winnings from the deactivated account or accounts will not be honored.

9. Bets on the DraftKings Sportsbook are considered valid and accepted immediately upon posting the wager. Odds are deemed correct. In the event of an error, DraftKings will review the considerations for the incorrect odds and declare the contest void. Money will be returned to your account if this occurs.

10. Daily fantasy players who violate any portion of the DraftKings Terms of Service, or conduct themselves in violation of the DraftKings Community Guidelines can be blocked. Blocked accounts cannot play any contest, or withdraw funds. DraftKings can refund account balances and terminate blocked accounts at their discretion.

How Does the DraftKings Deposit and Withdrawal Process Work?

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Deposits: All deposits on DraftKings must be made from an account that matches the name on the DraftKings account. This is a stipulation to help protect you and your money. You can deposit money into your DraftKings whenever you want. DraftKings accepts all major credit cards and PayPal. You can also use funds from Visa, MasterCard and American Express gift cards. DraftKings requests the right to validate financial information, again for your own protection.

Withdrawals: You can make a withdrawal from your DraftKings balance at any time as well. These requests for withdrawal of monies are processed between 9AM and 5PM, Monday through Friday.

Withdrawals made after 5PM, or on weekends and legal holidays, will be processed the next business day. You need to also make sure you have a W-9 on file with DraftKings prior to submitting a withdrawal request. Withdrawals usually take 2 to 8 business days to post to your account. Check requests can take up to three weeks to deliver. All withdrawals will be deposited onto the same form your deposit was made. Make certain these accounts are active and able to accept a transaction.

What Are Experience Badges and Crowns?

draftkings daily rewardsDraftKings awards you if you play frequently. The more frequently you enter paid contests, the more rewards you will amass. Crowns are one way that DraftKings acknowledges player loyalty. Every paid contest you enter will generate a set number of Crowns.

You can also join the DraftKings Mission program and earn even more Crowns. Crowns can be used to purchase items in the DK Store, or enter other contents. DraftKings also ranks your account level through Experience Points (XPs).

You gain experience points with every contest you enter. Your experience level is based on how many XPs you have earned. Experience levels are a great way to boast about how many contests you played on DraftKings. New Experience Badges are issued every 10 levels you advance.

Levels start at 10 and progress upwards in graduations of ten. Your levels and badges show on your profile. The most prolific players navigate their way up to the most prestigious badge at levels 80 and up.

How Does Customer Service Work on DraftKings?

DraftKings provides three levels of help and support. You can search the frequently asked questions for answers to problems. If you cannot find your answer there, DraftKings has live agents available on their chat window. The window is located as a pop up in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

You can also reach out to customer service via an email. Agents are available Monday through Friday from 7AM to midnight and 9AM to midnight on Saturday and Sunday. You can expect your problem to be addressed, or your question answered, within 24 hours of receipt of your email. Many times answers are sent within minutes.

Has DraftKings Encountered any Legal Problems?

legalThe short answer to this question would be, yes. One of the first problems DraftKings ran into was with their matching deposit program. The original deposit setup basically set DraftKings up in a legal quandary. What happened was, the system was geared to only release 4-percent of your deposit bonus upon your registration. The rest of this award was given out in little bits and pieces, attached to how much money you spend on contests.

Players in a handful of US District Courts have filed legal action to receive their full matching deposit bonus. DraftKings has acted swiftly, hoping to settle most of these problems through arbitration, therefore avoiding having to go to trial. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman also won a case alleging false and deceptive advertising practices by both DraftKings and their closest rival. DraftKings agreed to a punitive settlement in which they would pay the State of New York one half the $12 million penalty leveled.

Maybe the biggest legal battle to make the news was the attempted merger between DraftKings and the aforementioned competitor. DraftKings and FanDuel proposed to join forces, making them the single most viable option for daily fantasy sports contests. The US Attorney General’s office deemed this merger would create a monopoly on the daily fantasy sports industry. Rather than push the envelope in a legal battle with the federal government, the merger idea was nixed.

These are just some of the more noteworthy legal struggles DraftKings has navigated through during their rise to the top of the DFS industry. The DraftKings legal team has as much worked to handle public image control as they have to work towards actual settlements in the few cases that have edged towards a full trial. This is an overview of the basics in the Terms of Service and conditions to play daily fantasy games, or bet using the DraftKings Sportsbook. These terms are spelled out in detail on the DraftKings website. If you have any questions about these points, reach out to a DraftKings representative. They are eager to solve your problems.

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Sam Shefrin is the founder of Lineups.com, Inc. Before Lineups, he started Daily Fantasy Cafe, Inc. in 2014. Armed with a passion for sports and every Atlanta team, his journey continues with the goal of making Lineups a premier sports analytics destination. He has been quoted on Forbes.com for industry insight and his websites featured on NBATV, Yahoo! Sports, Fantasy Pros, Bleacher Report and SB Nation.

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