On this photo illustration, the American each day fantasy sports contest and sports betting company DraftKings logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.
Budrul Chukrut | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Sports gambling giant DraftKings apologized Monday for a bet parlay offer that will have paid out if three Recent York teams won on the twenty second anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks that killed almost 3,000 Americans.
The overwhelming majority of 9/11 deaths occurred within the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in lower Manhattan, and aboard the 2 industrial airline jets that struck and destroyed them.
The parlay DraftKings was touting earlier Monday said, “Never Forget,” a term steadily applied to the Sept. 11 attacks.
“We sincerely apologize for the featured parlay that was shared briefly in commemoration of 9/11,” DraftKings said on X, the social media site formerly generally known as Twitter.
“We respect the importance of at the present time for our country and particularly for the families of those that were directly affected,” the corporate said.
The parlay would have paid out if the Recent York Yankees, Mets and Jets won Monday.
The offer elicited fierce criticism on social media before it was yanked by the corporate.
“Absolute clowns,” one X user wrote in reply to DraftKing’s apologetic tweet.
“Shameful,” one other user wrote.
“No, you don’t respect the importance of the day, nor do you respect the human beings who bet on sports with you,” read one other post.
Bret Eagleson, whose father, Bruce, was killed on the Trade Center told The Associated Press, “It’s shameful to make use of the national tragedy of 9/11 to advertise a business.
“We’d like accountability, justice and closure, not self-interest and shameless promotion,” said Eagelson, who operates a bunch called 9/11 Justice.
Greater than 30 states and the District of Columbia have launched legal betting markets since a landmark 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case paved the way in which for any state to supply legal sports wagering.
For 2023, the market is projected to top $7.6 billion, based on Statista Market Insights.
Ten years ago, AT&T deleted a tweet that featured a hand holding a cell phone capturing a picture of the Tributes in Light, that are two beams of sunshine projected up from lower Manhattan showing where the Twin Towers once stood. The tweet said, “Never Forget.”
“We apologize to anyone who felt our post was in poor taste,” AT&T said in a subsequent tweet. “The image was solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the 9/11 tragedy.”
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Stefan Sykes
