This past weekend marked the final NFL Sunday of regular season and the first NFL Sunday of 2021.
Unfortunately, one major sportsbook was stuck on the sidelines, causing many bettors to lose out on the action.
FanDuel customers miss out on NFL Sunday betting
Sports betting giant FanDuel suffered outages at one of the worst possible times on Sunday.
Customers initially discovered glitches around 12:30 pm ET, reporting issues logging in and accessing FanDuel’s app and website altogether.
Users subsequently noted problems when cashing out bets. Many also received notifications saying the site would be undergoing planned maintenance for roughly six hours.
Problems were resolved for most customers by 2:40 pm, but that over two-hour window left many eager football fans disgruntled.
This has been resolved. All customers should now be able to successfully access the Sportsbook as normal. Thanks again for everyone's patience today! https://t.co/jxr1aep5SF
— FD Customer Support (@FanDuel_Support) January 3, 2021
One day later, Tennesseans still had a particularly difficult time placing bets on FanDuel.
If you are a customer in Tennessee and are experiencing difficulties accessing the Sportsbook app please uninstall and reinstall the app before trying again. If you are still experiencing difficulty after doing so please let us know!
— FD Customer Support (@FanDuel_Support) January 4, 2021
Support tried its best to resolve all issues in a timely manor, but the FanDuel outage left many customers frustrated.
Action 24/7 capitalizes on FanDuel’s loss
Fellow Tennessee sportsbook Action 24/7 got word of FanDuel’s struggle, uncovering a perfect opportunity for its own customer acquisition.
Action 24/7 welcomed users with a fully functioning platform and a $6 free bet to all customers.
🚨 FREE BET 🚨
We didn't plan any maintenance on your Week 17 NFL Sunday, but how about a $6 free bet? Use code PLANNEDIT6 – valid for in-game or live bets today.
And we totally planned it, you guys. pic.twitter.com/6aMCjxqUnx
— Action 247 (@TNAction247) January 3, 2021
This isn’t the first time Action 24/7 has taken to social media to deliver jabs to its competitors, and it certainly won’t be the last.
The new sportsbook is trying to make its presence known in the Volunteer state, and took advantage of this opportunity to do so.
FanDuel’s outage issues jeopardize customer loyalty
This isn’t the first time FanDuel customers have endured interruptions. Most recently, issues occurred on a Sunday in October when the sportsbook’s stat provider experienced a “major service disruption”.
The cause of the outage remains unknown and the company is still investigating.
In order to remedy the outage in October, FanDuel customer support announced it would credit affected customers 50% of their losses up to $100. FanDuel also offered customers a free voucher into one of its Sunday Million contests.
Just like last time, users are not happy and are seeking good-will gestures to remedy the latest NFL Sunday disruption. Slip-ups like these could ultimately result in a shift in market dominance if not handled correctly.
Could FanDuel’s lost footing provide the perfect opportunity for an underdog to begin closing the gap? Or will its commitment to customer loyalty make this an issue soon forgotten?
