The challenge
Several products, a fast-growing state footprint, and fraud that keeps changing shape
DraftKings runs a growing set of real-money platforms across an expanding state footprint, and each one draws a different kind of fraud pressure, from promotional abuse to prohibited behaviors such as multi-account or syndicate play. As that footprint and transaction volume grew for their daily fantasy sports, Pick6, horse racing, and lottery courier platforms, particularly heading into NFL season, Jeff Singer, VP of Engineering, and Brad Craft, VP of Risk and Lottery Fulfillment Operations, needed to identify emerging fraud patterns faster and adapt to new ones as they surfaced, rather than reacting to each one individually after the fact.
Location accuracy is particularly important near state borders and in dense urban environments. Near the New York and New Jersey border, for example, GPS signals can bounce unpredictably between buildings.
That meant looking for a geo-compliance and fraud solution built differently: modern and flexible enough to configure per product without a full rebuild, developer-friendly enough that engineering could implement it quickly, accurate enough to reliably verify players near state lines and in dense urban areas, and cost-effective enough to make sense at DraftKings’ scale.
The solution
A flexible, modern solution across several products, with advanced fraud detection
Radar runs location verification for the daily fantasy sports, Pick6, horse racing, and lottery courier platforms in DraftKings’ stack, with SDKs across iOS, Android, and web. Settings are configured per product, so one integration enforces the right rules for each one without a separate build every time.
Radar provides precise location signals that DraftKings uses to support location verification for its daily fantasy sports, Pick6, horse racing, and lottery courier platforms.
“The player experience is at the core of everything we do at DraftKings. For customers near jurisdictional borders or in dense areas, location accuracy can be the difference between a seamless experience and unnecessary friction when trying to play.”
—Nathaniel Brown, Product Manager
The same check also covers multiple platforms at once, so DraftKings can gate access from one call instead of running a separate check.
Radar also detects attempts to fake a player’s location on mobile, including the use of emulators, screen mirroring, and remote control tools from outside a permitted state.
Radar paired the team with a dedicated customer success manager, solutions engineer, and fraud operations lead, along with a product designer who worked directly with DraftKings. DraftKings uses network explorer and other Radar tools to support fraud investigations and dispute resolution.
“Radar is an exceptional company to work with. What sets them apart is their relentless focus on solving the complex fraud challenges we face, with that commitment extending all the way to their CEO, Nick, who has personally gotten involved in the problem-solving. Their flexible platform allows us to integrate unique signals into our real-time decisioning, helping us prevent fraud while protecting the customer experience. Our associates especially value the clustering report for quickly surfacing and investigating organized fraud trends.”
—Brad Craft, VP of Risk and Lottery Fulfillment Operations
The results
Strong pass rates across a fast-growing footprint, with fraud signals the team can act on
With Radar, the DraftKings team can now spot emerging fraud patterns across multiple platforms and act on them. Since going live, pass rates across daily fantasy sports and Pick6 have held strong.
Results from the Radar location checks analyzed:
- 206 ms average location check latency
- 12-meter median reported accuracy radius
“Radar has been incredibly collaborative and responsive, working alongside us to understand our challenges, iterate on solutions, and help us get to where we are today.”
—Nathaniel Brown, Product Manager
DraftKings receives a credit from Radar in connection with this case study.
