Class action lawsuit against DraftKings proceeds to trial in Massachusetts

A class action lawsuit filed in Massachusetts by the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) against DraftKings will move to class certification, class-wide discovery and trial following a denial of the operator’s motion for summary judgement. 

Judge Squires-Lee ruled “the foregoing is sufficient to create fact questions for the jury as to whether DraftKings provided Scanlon with reasonable notice terms and conditions, so as to defeat any misleading aspects of the Deposit Bonus advertisements."

PHAI originally filed the lawsuit in 2023 on behalf of Massachusetts residents such as Melissa Scanlon and Sean Harris, alleging DraftKings failed to adequately disclose terms and conditions related to its $1,000 deposit bonus.

According to the filing, DraftKings customers were required to deposit an initial $5,000 and wager at least $25,000 within 90 days on certain qualifying bets to be eligible for the promotion. 

If the requirements were met, DraftKings would then allegedly issue non-withdrawable site credits which were only redeemable on the operator’s various gambling platforms. 

PHAI Executive Director Mark Gottlieb spoke on the decision, having said, "The jig is up for DraftKings and its highly deceptive marketing ploy to lure new customers to wager tens of thousands of dollars chasing a bogus bonus.

“We look forward to conducting wider discovery to better understand how the company planned and executed its plan to hook those new to sports gambling on products that are well-understood to cause addiction."

DraftKings submitted various depictions of how the operator allegedly disclosed the terms and conditions of its $1,000 deposit bonus, although no records of what was shown directly to the plaintiffs were submitted.

The operator recently expanded upon its Puerto Rico operations following the launch of its online sportsbook platform on February 23, having previously unveiled a retail sportsbook at Foxwoods El San Juan Casino during November 2025.

According to the operator, responsible gaming efforts remain a “shared priority” between DraftKings, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Foxwoods El San Juan Casino.