Caesars Sportsbook comes under fire over New York launch issues

[ad_1]

Caesars Sportsbook came under fire this week from bettors and a state senator over problems with the company in New York.

The Caesars Sportsbook mobile app, which went live in New York on Jan. 8, suffered multiple outages in its first two weeks of operation in the state. Punters reported that bets on completed events were not being scored and reflected in account balances in a timely manner, in addition to delays in processing withdrawals. The company’s customer service team were unable to handle the volume of complaints and the online chat option was eventually disabled leading to communication breakdowns between the bookmaker and punters looking for answers.

“Our customers are of the utmost importance to us and we apologize for any inconvenience they have experienced since our launch in the Empire State,” a Caesars spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN. “New Yorkers have a huge passion for the sport and the state is operating at an unprecedented scale. This scale has revealed issues in our platform and we have made numerous updates every day since launch to improve customer experience. Additionally, we continue to increase our customer service capacity to ensure that we can respond more quickly. We are committed to New York State for the long term and want to ensure every customer that we appreciate their feedback and are working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”

New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo, one of the driving forces behind the legalization of online sports betting, said he heard from frustrated customers and considered Caesars’ early problems to be beyond the growing pains, calling them “disappointing and disheartening”. Addabbo was particularly concerned about the withdrawal delays and said if the issues persist, his office and the New York State Gaming Commission may need to get involved.

“It’s Caesars Sportsbook, it’s not a mom-and-pop operation that opened yesterday,” Addabbo told ESPN on Thursday. “We see the ads, we know Caesars has some success in the industry. He’s not a rookie here.”

2 Related

Part of the confusion with Caesars centered around a deposit bonus that new New York customers received. Caesars offered to match initial deposits of new accounts up to $3,000, in addition to giving away $300 in free bets with each new signup. If a client in New York opened their first account at Caesars Sportsbook and deposited $3,000, they would receive $3,300 in bonuses.

Before withdrawing funds from the deposit match and free bet, customers had to place bets totaling the amount they received from bonuses at least once within 30 calendar days. Any bets placed at odds over -300 were not included in the required stake amount. Some bettors allegedly attempted to withdraw funds but failed to meet wagering requirements. Others said they were trying to withdraw their own funds they had deposited.

“Communication would alleviate a lot of the frustration,” Addabbo said.

Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive each launched in New York City on January 8. BetMGM began operating in New York last week, and four more books are completing the licensing process ahead of launch. Sportsbooks in the state took in $150 million in wagers the first weekend, which coincided with the final week of the NFL’s regular season, according to figures released this week by state officials.

Disclosure: Caesars Sportsbook and ESPN have a business partnership.

[ad_2]