FanDuel had a change of heart on Thursday. The company decided to honor the sports bet made by Anthony Prince of Newark, New Jersey and pay Prince his full $82,000 payout on a disputed $110 sports bet. Several other gamblers who made similar bets at wildly inflated odds will also be paid in full, the company announced via the Los Angeles Times.
The incident took place at FanDuel’s new sports book at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A computer glitch allowed Prince to make a 750-1 wager that the Denver Broncos would beat the Oakland Raiders just seconds before the Broncos attempted a short field goal, yielding an enormous payout.
When the field goal attempt was good and the Broncos won, the system registered that Prince had won $82,000 on a $110 bet. FanDuel initially refused to pay out the bet because of the glitch, noting that the system should have set 1-6 odds for the scenario, but relented after New Jersey gaming regulators launched a probe into the incident, according to Fox Business.
Originally, the company 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.”
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.
All told, 12 customers, including Prince, were given incorrect odds during an 18-second computer glitch. Kip Levin, FanDuel’s chief operating officer, would not say how much in total the company is paying, but said the promised payouts printed on the tickets or made online will be honored, as reported by AP News.
FanDuel also announced it will give away another $82,000 this weekend by adding $1,000 apiece to the accounts of 82 randomly chosen customers.
Flip the page to see the full statement that was released by the company.