DraftKings Faces Microbetting Patent Infringement Suit
Posted on: May 14, 2025, 10:44h.
Last updated on: May 14, 2025, 10:50h.
- Suit brought by Micro-Gaming Ventures
- Plaintiff says DraftKings’ 2024 acquisition of Simplebet highlights importance of microbetting technology
DraftKings is facing a patent lawsuit brought by a sports betting technology company that claims the sportsbook operator infringed upon five patents the plaintiff developed prior to the 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
In a complaint filed on May 9 in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Micro-Gaming Ventures, LLC highlighted five patents filed between 2010 and 2013 tied to microbetting it believes DraftKings infringed upon.
The patented inventions … provide many advantages over the prior art, and in particular improved the operations of managing micro-bets within larger macro-events and authorising users based on their locations,” according to the legal document.
Microwagers include the outcome of the coin toss in a football game, balls and strikes in a baseball game, and so on. Bettors like those wagers because the outcomes are binary, and with the results being known immediately, the bettor can decide to take their winnings and potentially place another bet or cut their losses.
Micro-Gaming Using DraftKings’ Simplebet Acquisition Against It
In the legal complaint, Micro-Gaming Ventures noted DraftKings has already proven the importance of microbetting technology with its August 2024 acquisition of Simplebet, attempting to use that deal against the buyer.
In 2021, DraftKings and Simplebet inked a deal in which Simplebet provided microbetting services to DraftKings Sportsbook. The former eventually became the latter’s biggest client. Underscoring why DraftKings may have found Simplebet to be an alluring target is the need for technology to make live and microbetting work. Indeed, technology is at the heart of Micro-Gaming Ventures’ complaint.
Some market observers believe Micro-Gaming is leaning on DraftKings’ purchase of Simplebet as evidence the defendant sees value and growth opportunity in microbetting.
“One advantage of the patented inventions is that they provide a way to determine, via a configured computer, when a micro-bet is available to bettors and thereafter when the micro-bet has closed to additional betters,” according to the plaintiff.
In nontech parlance, the patents in question apply to technology that allows sportsbook operators to efficiently open and close in-game event wagers while verifying the locations of bettors. For example, a sportsbook client could use Micro-Gaming technology to offer a bet on whether or not an NBA player will make a free throw, rapidly opening that market after the foul occurs and closing it down just prior to the shot.
“This becomes increasingly important as micro-bets move quickly and necessarily close from play to play and pitch to pitch,” adds the tech provider.
Microbetting Expected to Be Big Growth Driver
In-game wagering has long been popular in mature sports wagering markets such as Australia and Europe, and it’s rapidly gaining momentum in the US. Microbetting amplifies those prospects because it adds more revenue-generating opportunities for operators.
Analysts across the board agree that microbetting could be a key growth driver for sportsbook operators over the next decade. And platforms that offer it at scale — like DraftKings — stand to capture massive market share,” notes SCCG founder and CEO Stephen Crystal.
Micro-Gaming Ventures is seeking an accounting of DraftKings’ alleged patent infringements, financial damages, and a jury trial.
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