Voting Station

DraftKings

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Internet Website

The Resume

    (2012- )
    Fantasy sports contest web provider
    Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts
    Allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports-related contests
    Co-founded by former Vista-Print executives, Jason Robins (CEO), Matt Kalish (CRO), and Paul Liberman (CMO)
    Users can win money based on individual player/team performances in five major American sports (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, and PGA)
    Other options include Premier League, UEFA Champions League soccer, NASCAR auto racing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), collegiate football, and collegiate basketball
    Provided contests include Guaranteed Tournaments (GPP), Qualifier Tournaments, Head to Head (H2H) Contests, 50-50 Contests, League Tournaments, Multiplier Tournaments, Steps Tournaments, and Beginner Tournaments
    Entered into a three-year advertising deal with ESPN Inc. valued at $250 million, enabling the 'integration' of the service within ESPN's television/digital content and 'having exclusivity for advertising within the daily fantasy market on ESPN networks' (July 2015); ESPN later announced that they would no longer be running segments sponsored by DraftKings, in light of growing accusations of gambling/insider trading (Oc.t 6, 2015)
    Placed under FBI investigation by state and federal authorities following allegations that insiders were able to earn money on rival sites using player information (Dec. 2015)
    New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman opened an inquiry into the site’s range of internal data, as well as details on how they prevent fraud, after charges of game rigging emerged (October 6, 2015)

Why DraftKings might be annoying:

    Jerry Jones and Bob Kraft are stake-holding investors.
    Unless you finish in the top ten of their publicized 'Tournaments,' you will most likely see your bankroll diminish.
    The number one best reason to play? Its 100% legal! (at least that's what the Top 5 'Best Reasons' list on the website says!)
    In case any confirmation was needed, all ads feature a tiny disclaimer at the bottom reading 'not a gambling site' (of course it is...)
    They had a tie-in with the World Series of Poker until their legality started to be questioned, after which time their partnership quickly dissolved.
    They are famous for the airing of campy paid programming that claims 'anyone can win big money!'
    While this may be technically true, very rarely is it the diehard game-day sports aficionado every-man who 'wins big' (more often than not it turns out to be brainy statisticians with enough free time to spend the day scanning mounds of theoretical sports data).
    They probably spend more of the proceeds from their costly entry fees on the ads than they do the actual prizes.
    They routinely point to the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), of 2006, as proof that their gaming is legally permissible, because the legislation exempted 'fantasy sports' from its legal enforcement.
    In spite of their protestations of legitimacy under the law, former Rep. Jim Leach (who drafted the original AIGEA legislation) claimed that the exemption was made with no way of knowing that it would become such a profitable industry, decrying it as 'sheer chutzpah for [DraftKings] to pretend the law makes them legal.'
    It was revealed to the mainstream media that DraftKings employee, Ethan Haskell, was endowed with access to insider sports data which enabled him to win $350,000 from the competing fantasy sports site, FanDuel. When faced with 'insider trading' accusations, the site's response was underwhelming, without so much as the firing of Haskell.
    The Gaming Control Board of Nevada ruled that playing daily fantasy sports constituted a form of gambling, ordering DraftKings to cease operations within the state immediately. They complied, but publicly blasted the decision as 'self-serving' and 'exclusionary' suggesting that the state of Nevada actually viewed daily fantasy sports as a competitive threat to their casino operations (Oct. 15, 2015).

Why DraftKings might not be annoying:

    It enables users to create their own custom public or private contests.
    In all fairness, they do offer nightly contests for free; some of which do offer cash prizes.
    And, if you’re not risking large sums of cash, it can be all-around good fun.
    It originated as a one-on-one baseball competition, launched to coincide with Major League Baseball's opening day in 2012.
    Within the first three years of its creation, it amassed an unprecedented level of exposure for a private business; securing exclusive deals with the NHL and MLB, and a partnership with the biggest name in sports programming; granting them direct access to their target audience.
    After receiving over $75 Million in outside funding to increase its industry market share, it became the undisputed top fantasy sports sites, making short work of its main competitors, DraftStreet and StarStreet, which it acquired and absorbed with the additional funding (2014).
    They admitted in a 2015 Fortune article to sporting a sign-up rate of 200,000 on a daily average (running their membership up to well over 4.5 million).
    Although their rapid growth has also been attributed to the fantasy games being made available on the mobile app (iOS or Android).
    It inspired several cool knock-off imitations, including a ‘fantasy politics’ app (here’s that Palin-Obama ticket you asked for…)
    But you know you’ve really made it big when MSNBC’s resident MST3K fan-nebbish acknowledges your existence by devoting a 30-minute segment to your game rigging scandal (cool beans - now they can face charges with that warm, fuzzy feeling inside!)

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 101 Votes: 50.50% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 15 Votes: 73.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 102 Votes: 65.69% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 165 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 88 Votes: 55.68% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 67 Votes: 61.19% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying