Draftkings adds PayPal for payment

DraftKings Sportsbook, the first company that offered sports betting in New Jersey, has finally added PayPal into the list of payment options.

Previously the company offered deposit and withdrawals options only through Visa, MasterCard and bank transfer, apart from the daily fantasy sports account of the company.

At the initial weeks that was not a problem because the customers did not have choice. But when other companies entered the fray with their sportsbooks, and with PayPal as a transaction option, DraftKings started feeling the heat.

If you are familiar with the world of online casinos in New Jersey, a lack of options for depositing can be a problem for a new site or app. Many banks will decline any transactions dealing with online gambling, even though it’s legal in New Jersey.

DraftKings was dealing with a lot of frustrated customers who wanted to bet, but could not get money online directly.

FanDuel Sportsbook – one of DraftKings’ competitors – outlines the pretty directly with an FAQ on its site:

While most major banks allow online wagering, the following will decline transactions with online wagering companies:

• Bank of America
• Capital One
• Wells Fargo
• TD Bank
• Union Bank
• Huntington Bank
• Most prepaid cards

That includes some very big banks that also issue credit cards.

DraftKings beat everyone, by weeks, to offer online sports betting. But that first-mover advantage was not going to carry DraftKings to a lead in the NJ sports betting industry forever.

If it was going to compete, adding a payment option like PayPal was a near necessity. Three other online sports betting sites – FanDuel, Caesars online casino and SugarHouse Sportsbook – all had PayPal live already.

Now the playing field will be a bit more level. We get the first online sports betting revenue and handle numbers this week in New Jersey. But we will see how the competition is shaking out better once the numbers are in from September, when DraftKings was finally operating against challengers.

Source: PlayNJ