FanDuel is owning up to a big mistake.
According to a report by the AP, the sports betting company will pay out $82,000 to a New Jersey man who placed a $110 live bet on the Denver Broncos against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
A mistake by the company's automated system hung 750-1 odds on the wager. The intended odds were meant to be 1-6, meaning a bettor would need to lay $600 to win $100.
Initially, FanDuel refused to pay out the ticket, but since then, the company met with New Jersey gambling regulators and has changed its tune.
The 360-degree turn is wonderful news for one Anthony Prince of Newark, N.J., as he will take home $82,000 (before taxes, of course) off a $110 bet. Other bettors who took advantage of the bad line will also have their bets honored.
“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.”
Prince placed his bet on the Broncos with the team down two points but driving its way toward a game-winning field goal, which Denver would eventually convert.
“A 36-yard field goal has approximately an 85 percent chance of success, so the astronomical odds offered on something highly likely to occur was very obviously a pricing error,” the company said. “These kinds of issues are rare, but they do happen. We want sports betting to be fun. So, this one’s on the house. We are paying out these erroneous tickets and wish the lucky customers well.”
Not letting a good crisis go to waste, FanDuel has created a marketing opportunity around the mistake.
The company says it will give away another $82,000 this weekend by adding $1,000 apiece to the accounts of 82 randomly chosen customers.
