Iowa Regulator Issues $125,000 in Fines to FanDuel Sportsbook

The Hawkeye State isn’t taking its gambling laws lightly.

The Iowa State Racing and Gaming Commission (ISRGC) has announced $125,000 in new fines for FanDuel Sportsbook. The industry-leading sportsbook was found to have violated five of Iowa’s gambling laws. While acknowledging the massive volume handled by FanDuel, the sports betting regulator shared they expect more from it.

“Five counts within a very short period of time is just too much, you know, and so I know they’re dealing with a big volume. I believe FanDuel is our number two operator in the state. But we just expect more. ISRGC Head Daryle Olsen said during a hearing last week. “I think our job is to tell them what we expect, lay out the concerns, and then hopefully they go back and fix it, and we don’t have to deal with this again.”

FanDuel confirmed their part in these violations, and shared that each issue has been addressed to prevent future ones. 

Illegal Bets & Responsible Gaming Failures

The $125,000 in fines came from two different types of violations. The first four violations all involved the sportsbook offering illegal bets. The operator provided wagers that are not included in the state’s legal bet catalog and prop bets that did not have authorization from the state. 

FanDuel admitted to each of these illegal offerings and apologized for the errors. The operator will provide increased training for the teams responsible for uploading bets to the site. It will also aim to increase automation within the process, thereby limiting the possibility of human error.

In addition to offering illegal wagers, FanDuel also failed to have working responsible gaming options on its platforms. The state requires certain features to be available, but those were not operational on the sportsbook. This caused some frustration among the ISRGC, given that the gambling giant had spent over $100 million to upgrade its responsible gaming offerings.

FanDuel has since added the required options, resolving the issue.