Ever tried to sign up for a new sportsbook like FanDuel, DraftKings, ESPN BET or others ahead of a big event, only to be stuck in verification purgatory until after the game is over? And wonder why other times you've been verified right away?
It may have to do with the address that you're entering when signing up for a new sportsbook account.
Sports betting sites are considered financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, making them subject to KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) rules. That means they need to tie your identity to your account. That's different from most sites around the Internet that just require an email address, like Instagram, ESPN.com or Netflix. Those sites aren't required to actually know who you are.
Every U.S. betting operator uses third-party verification software to tie your identity to your account. These verification companies are just taking the info you gave to the sportsbook — name, address, birthday and SSN — and checking it against what the government has on record.
But if those four pieces of info don't match, you'll likely be asked to submit a copy of your photo ID or other verification documents, which sometimes need to be reviewed manually. That will delay your verification (and ability to bet at that sportsbook) for a few hours at least, and often a few days, since many users are signing up on weekends.
Here are some tips to make sure you get verified immediately we've found from digging through the help centers of multiple U.S. sportsbooks, plus some personal experiences signing up for new accounts.
How to Get Verified Fast at U.S. Betting Sites
Two of the four pieces of info you provide never change — birthday and SSN — so you should be fine there. Your name is also hard to mess up; just use your legal name, not a nickname.
The one that I believe causes the most problems is your address.
1. Use the address that's on your license, or the last address you believe the government would have
All the third-party verifiers are doing is taking the address you provided and verifying it with whatever the government has on record. That means if you put your current address, but the government doesn't know you moved because you haven't gotten a new ID, the verifier will think your information is incorrect.
Think about it. If you were living in New York City without a car and then moved back to your parent's house in Massachusetts, how would anyone know you moved? You're not on the mortgage, there's no car in your name tied to the address. (USPS will sell your data if you forward your mail, but I'm not sure if this info gets back to the verifiers since they actually have to purchase it from USPS.)
FanDuel even says you should use an old address if needed:FanDuel uses a verification agency to confirm your name, date of birth, and social security number. It's possible that available records could have old information, so we'd suggest trying a previous address. If successful, we can then look to get your address changed on our records.
DraftKings isn't as overt about saying you should use the last address the government has, but they recommend using whatever is on your ID: For accurate verification, customers should ensure that their registration information is entered exactly as it appears on their state-issued driver’s license, passport, or other federally accepted identification document.
These two rules of thumb aren't a guarantee to verify you instantly, but here's how I'd approach it:
- If you're a renter and moved addresses but haven't gotten a new ID or registered your vehicle at a new address, use your old address.
- If you bought a house, use that address, even if you haven't gotten a new ID yet, since the purchase/sale of a home is public record.
2. Make sure the address matches exactly what's on your license
I once lived in a part of Atlanta called Brookhaven, a big neighborhood northeast of Atlanta that became its own municipality in 2012. But when I lived there in 2016, my address was still "Atlanta, GA" and not "Brookhaven, GA" even though Brookhaven was its own city.
In cases like this, make sure to use the city/town that's on your ID, not what it's colloquially called.
3. What if I'm betting from a state where I don't live?
It's perfectly legal to sign up and bet from a state where you don't live. You just have to be located physically in that state when placing your bets. We have a guide on how to do it here.
So if you live in California but are signing up to bet in Arizona, use your actual California address, or whatever you believe the government has. If you use a fake address or the address of an Airbnb, the verification software won't have any record of you living there, and will send you to manual review.
