Illinois court favors FanDuel in live betting legal case
US operator avoids class action lawsuit over NCAA basketball betting case as judge points towards operator terms and conditions
Justices in Illinois have dismissed a lawsuit filed against FanDuel over the alleged supply of false information to sports bettors in the Prairie State.
Plaintiff Andrew Melnick sued the operator after he lost $50 on an overs/unders bet on NCAA mens basketball via the FanDuel app.
In his complaint, Melnick claimed FanDuel had breached its contract by failing to provide “accurate real-time trading information.”
He also claimed FanDuel had unjustly enriched itself by failing to provide that information.
Melnick attempted to launch a class action lawsuit against FanDuel as part of the legal challenge, seeking to represent app users from Illinois and nine other states.
However, the class action attempts were abandoned when FanDuel successfully argued that Illinois had exclusivity over trying the case.
In a hearing at the US district court for Northern Illinois, Judge Elaine E. Bucklo ruled in favor of the sports betting operator, citing FanDuel’s existing terms and conditions, which indemnify the firm against any delay in the provision of live betting information.
“You may not at any time be able to see or otherwise be provided with the most up-to-date information in relation to the relevant event, including for example (but without limitation), through delayed coverage, a slow connection or equipment, or other system flaws, faults, errors or service interruption,” the relevant clause states.
“FanDuel Sportsbook shall not be liable for any delay in relaying up-to-date information,” it concludes.
Bucklo dismissed claims that FanDuel had violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Trade Practices Act after highlighting the terms, before dismissing a separate assertion that the Flutter-owned operator had breached its contract.
In addition, the unjust enrichment claims were dismissed under Illinois law, which bars plaintiffs from recovering lost monies when those claims are subject to contract.