DraftKings
Flagged · AvoidOne of the two dominant U.S. online sportsbooks and daily fantasy sports platforms, competing head to head with FanDuel for control of the legal sports betting market.
Last updated September 21, 2026
Reasons to avoid
Issues span:ConsumerPrivacy
- A New York Times investigation found DraftKings built a machine learning model in 2023 to identify which customers were most likely to keep gambling and losing money in response to promotional offers, then targeted those bettors with incentives. Former employees told reporters the company resisted building similar tools to flag and protect gamblers showing signs of addiction, and that internal efforts to do so were shelved or blocked.
- Ohio's gambling regulator fined DraftKings after the company mailed sports betting promotions to more than 2,500 Ohioans under the legal betting age of 21. Regulators also cited DraftKings for advertising bonus bets as free or risk free when customers actually had to risk their own money first.
- A credential stuffing attack in November 2022 exposed personal and financial data for nearly 68,000 DraftKings customers, some of whom had funds withdrawn from linked bank accounts. DraftKings had not required two factor authentication by default, leaving accounts vulnerable to attackers using passwords stolen elsewhere.
- DraftKings has a pattern of sharply cutting bet limits for customers as soon as they start winning consistently, sometimes capping wagers at just a few dollars within days of a big win. The Washington Post found DraftKings was one of the sportsbooks most frequently cited by professional bettors for imposing the harshest limits.
Ethical alternatives
Fantasy Sports
Yahoo Fantasy Sports
Free fantasy football, baseball, and basketball leagues you can run with friends, with no real money wagering required to play.
Visit →Forecasting
Invest Instead
Vanguard
Client owned firm with no external shareholders, known for low cost index funds like VOO.
🏦 Customer Owned
Visit →Your Local Credit Union
Member owned, not for profit financial institutions that often beat big bank savings rates.
📍 Local Business📍 Supports Locals
Common Questions
- Is DraftKings ethical?
- A New York Times investigation found DraftKings built a machine learning model to find the customers most likely to keep losing money and targeted them with promotional offers. Ohio regulators also fined the company for mailing betting promotions to more than 2,500 people under the legal age of 21.
- Why should I avoid DraftKings?
- Former employees say DraftKings resisted building tools to protect gamblers showing signs of addiction while it tuned its marketing to customers who kept losing. The company has also cut bet limits for winning customers and exposed data for nearly 68,000 accounts in a 2022 credential stuffing attack.
- What are the best ethical alternatives to DraftKings?
- Yahoo Fantasy Sports offers free leagues you can run with friends with no real money at stake. Metaculus and Good Judgment Open let you test your predictions against a global crowd with no wagering, and Vanguard or a local credit union are better homes for money you would otherwise gamble.