FanDuel refunded net losses to Daily Fantasy Sports customers affected by a platform outage before the opening Sunday slate of the NFL regular season, after users were unable to edit lineups or replace inactive players before contests locked.
The company acknowledged the disruption on Sept. 14, calling the site issue “unacceptable” and saying it had “fumbled” during NFL Week 1. FanDuel said its team had investigated the problem, refunded net losses to impacted customers and remained committed to delivering a better DFS experience.
The outage began at about 11:30 a.m. ET on Sept. 13, roughly 90 minutes before the first games. Other contemporaneous accounts placed widespread user reports nearer 11 a.m., with the service still not restored until after the 1 p.m. ET kickoffs.
The breakdown prevented some customers from accessing the app, viewing player lists, entering contests and changing existing rosters. The timing was particularly consequential for users seeking to respond to late injury news and inactive-player announcements before lineup lock. Some said they were left with incomplete or placeholder lineups that could not be altered.
DownDetector received more than 300 problem reports, according to App.com, with roughly 70% related to gaining access to the app. Searches for “Is Fanduel down” also trended on Google as customers reported the disruption.
FanDuel has not publicly disclosed the number of customers affected or the value of the refunds. Coverage differed on the scope and form of the reimbursement: Casino.org reported that refunds were applied to DFS players who had tried to log in to make lineup changes, while CDC Gaming said net losses across the affected contests would be returned as site credits.
Some players had demanded compensation beyond refunds, including bonus bets, and questioned why relief did not extend to every entrant who could not alter a lineup.
DFS contests are peer-to-peer, with the operator taking a commission or rake from entry fees rather than accepting a bet directly against the house. The incident placed renewed attention on platform reliability during NFL Sundays, among the highest-traffic periods for DFS operators.
FanDuel said it had “plenty of fun in store for Week 2 and beyond.”
