May 14, 2025, 10:50h.
DraftKings Accused of Breaching Microbetting Patent Rights in Legal Dispute
DraftKings Faces Legal Heat Over Microbetting PatentsSuit by Micro-Gaming Ventures highlights the allure and strategic importance of live betting tech
DraftKings is in hot water with sports betting technology company, Micro-Gaming Ventures, LLC, who've slapped a lawsuit on the sportsbook operator accusing them of snatching five patented micro-betting technologies before the 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
The complaint, filed on May 9 in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, details the five patents related to microbetting that Micro-Gaming Ventures believes DraftKings pilfered, patents that were filed between 2010 and 2013.
These badass tech innovations, according to the court docs, “provide numerous advantages over the prior art, specifically improving the management of micro-bets within larger events and authorizing users based on their locations."
So, what exactly are these micro-wagers? They're the freakin' outcome of a coin toss in a football game, balls and strikes in a baseball game, you get the drift. Bettors dig these wagers because the outcomes are binary, and results are known hella quick, giving them the opportunity to cash in or place another bet regardless of whether they're winners or losers.
Micro-Gaming's Attorney General: DraftKings Bent the Knee to Simplebet
In the legal complaint, Micro-Gaming Ventures throws some serious shade at DraftKings, pointing to the sportsbook's August 2024 acquisition of Simplebet as evidence they've been trying to rip off micro-betting tech.
Back in 2021, DraftKings and Simplebet struck a sweet deal where Simplebet offered their micro-betting services to DraftKings Sportsbook with the former eventually becoming the latter's biggest client. It's clear as day why DraftKings found Simplebet so irresistible—they needed tech to make live and micro-betting work. Put simply, tech is the lifeblood of Micro-Gaming Ventures' complaint.
"One sweet advantage of the patented inventions is that they facilitate determining, via a computer, when a micro-bet is up for grabs and when it's closed to more bettors," the complaint states.
In simpler terms, the contested patents enable bookies to efficiently open and close in-play event wagers while double-checking the whereabouts of bettors. For instance, a sportsbook could use Micro-Gaming tech to roll out a wager about whether an NBA player can sink a free throw, opening the market seconds after the foul, and closing it just before the player shoots.
"This becomes crucial as micro-bets zip by at a rapid pace and must close between plays and pitches," Micro-Gaming adds.
Microbetting: US Sportsbooks' Elixir of Life
Live betting has been burning up the scene in mature sports betting markets like Australia and Europe for ages, and it's finally getting the attention it deserves in the US. Micro-betting takes things to the next level by adding gobs of revenue-boosting opportunities for operators.
Analysts across the board agree that micro-betting holds the key to gigantic growth for sportsbook operators over the next decade, with platforms that offer it on a massive scale taking a stranglehold on the market[2][3].
Micro-Gaming Ventures is seeking an accounting of DraftKings' patent infringements, financial damages, and jury trial.
Sources:
- SportsHandle
- SCCG Resources
- Gaming Intell
- Law360
- The lawsuit filed by Micro-Gaming Ventures against DraftKings alleges that DraftKings infringed on five patented micro-betting technologies, which were filed between 2010 and 2013, before the 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
- The patented micro-betting technologies, according to the court documents, provide advantages over the prior art, specifically improving the management of micro-bets within larger events and authorizing users based on their locations.
- Micro-betting is considered a revenue-boosting opportunity for sportsbook operators, and analysts predict that it holds the key to gigantic growth for these operators over the next decade.
- Micro-Gaming Ventures is seeking an accounting of DraftKings' patent infringements, financial damages, and a jury trial in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.
