Sports Betting

FanDuel Refunds Fantasy Sports Contest Fees After Platform Outage on NFL Sunday

Posted on: September 15, 2026, 09:38h.

Last updated on: September 15, 2026, 09:38h.

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Devin O'Connor Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, and gaming news. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014...
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Key Points

FanDuel refunded net losses to DFS players affected by a Week 1 outage that prevented lineup changes
The outage began about 1.5 hours before Sunday NFL games, prompting customers to demand additional compensation
Rival DraftKings used the incident to promote its own fantasy sports platform

FanDuel has refunded contest fees for daily fantasy sports (DFS) players after the platform encountered technical difficulties during week one of the NFL regular season.

FanDuel fantasy sports DFS refund — A FanDuel logo is pictured in Toronto. FanDuel has refunded losses for daily fantasy sports customers who were impacted by a technical issue on Sunday (Sept. 13). (Image: Shutterstock)

FanDuel said on Monday (Sept. 14) that it would be refunding net losses to DFS players who were impacted by the Sunday outage.

During the technical problems, players were unable to edit lineups. FanDuel DFS players reported that the tech issues began about 1.5 hours before the first Sunday NFL games kicked off, or around 11:30 am ET.

To our DFS customers: we acknowledge that yesterday’s site issue was unacceptable. NFL Week 1 is supposed to be a joyous time, and we fumbled,” FanDuel said in a statement.

“The team investigated the issue and has now refunded the net losses to our impacted customers. We remain committed to offering you a better DFS experience and have plenty of fun in store for Week 2 and beyond,” the release added.

Player Complaints

Many FanDuel DFS players weren’t satisfied with the fantasy sports platform’s response to the Sunday hiccup. Many demanded bonus bets and other compensation.

I need bonus bets. This is ridiculous and beyond unfair,” read one comment on X to the FanDuel Customer Support account.

The refunds were only applied to DFS players who tried to log in to their accounts to make lineup changes. That ruffled some players’ feathers.

“Why wouldn’t the issue have applied to all users playing DFS? Even if you had a dummy lineup in, you could not edit it,” said a FanDuel customer.

Rival DraftKings responded by welcoming FanDuel DFS customers to its fantasy sports platform.

“Your DFS home should probably be somewhere that treats DFS like it matters,” DraftKings wrote on X. “We’ve noticed other companies just don’t care. We’re not shocked.”

“Biggest prize pools. More ways to play. Better customer service. Always choose DraftKings,” the company wrote.

How DFS Differs From Sports Betting

Sports betting and fantasy sports are vastly different. In sports betting, a bettor stakes a wager on an outcome against the sportsbook, which takes the other side.

In fantasy sports, a player assembles a lineup of individual players, staying under a salary cap, to compete against other customers. Unlike sports betting, fantasy sports are not against the house. The platform generates revenue by charging a commission, commonly called a contest fee, to operate the leagues and tournaments.

Sports betting is wildly more profitable for operators. FanDuel no longer specifies revenue from DFS in its quarterly filings, instead grouping the business into its “other” financial reporting line.