DraftKings has issued an apology for featuring a ‘Never Forget’ 9/11 parlay this morning. The parlay was for players wanting to back all three New York City teams (Jets, Yankees and Mets) tonight and offered a +651 payout.
The apology came in the form of a post on one of DraftKings’ X accounts (formerly known as Twitter): “We sincerely apologize for the featured parlay that was shared briefly in commemoration of 9/11. We respect the significance of this day for our country and especially for the families of those who were directly affected.”
Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the horrifying terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans in New York City, Washington D.C. and a field in Pennsylvania, where one of the four hijacked planes crashed after passengers stormed the cockpit to attack the terrorists.
The promotion of the parlay created a firestorm of criticism on social media this morning, prompting DraftKings to pull the parlay after it was up for several hours.
What’s even worse is that the fair value for a three-team parlay on those teams should’ve been a payout North of +700. As of 5:15 p.m. Eastern, most books had the Jets at +115 money-line odds. The Mets were -125 favorites and the Yankees were +115 underdogs.
VegasInsider’s parlay calculator for those teams at those prices comes to +732.05.
It’s one thing for DraftKings to make a tone-deaf mistake with this promotion. It becomes next-level ignorance when the promotion isn’t even offering DraftKings’ customers the correct payout.