Does DraftKings’ customer surcharge plan constitute an abuse of power?

“DraftKings passing on the surcharge to its customers feels like an abuse of power in markets where customers are not always spoiled for choice,” said Neil Roarty, head of North American publishing at ClickOut Media. 

“Regulation of sports betting was supposed to provide more customer protection. However, if the brand with the highest market share can just whack a charge on players because it doesn’t want to pay more in taxes, then the whole concept of legal sports betting becomes questionable. 

“Would this happen in any other industry? A market leader should not be able to hike up prices with customers having no option but to pay it. Another option of course is that they simply choose to play elsewhere.”