DraftKings Sportsbook Stops Betting on Russian Leagues or Teams Due to Invasion of Ukraine
By Robert Duff in Sports Betting News
Published:
- DraftKings Sportsbook has halted betting on all Russian and Belarussian sports as Russia’s war with Ukraine is entering its second week
- Russian leagues offered by their site included the KHL, Russian Premier Soccer League, and Moscow Liga Pro Table Tennis
- DraftKings is believed to be the first major online sports betting site to make this decision
As the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine enters its second week, DraftKings is making the decision to no longer take action on sports from Russia or Belarus. The American-based betting site made the announcement via its social media channels on Thursday afternoon.
“As of today, we will no longer offer betting on sports leagues and events in Russia and Belarus, such as the KHL,” read the statement from DraftKings. The post on the DraftKings Sportsbook account featured a Ukrainian flag. It went on to note that DraftKings has “no direct commercial relationship with any Russian or Belarusian league, team or sports organization.”
DraftKings Discontinues Betting On Russian Sports
Among the sports dropped from the DraftKings sportsbooks betting markets was Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. After the NHL, it’s the largest pro league in the world. The lineup of KHL teams is including clubs from several countries beyond Russia. The KHL playoffs are just getting underway. Two teams – Finland’s Jokerit Helsinki and Dynamo Riga of Latvia – have dropped out of the KHL since the war began.
Jokerit will not participate in this year’s playoffs. Team’s season has thus come to an end.#Jokerit #KHL
— Jokerit Helsinki (@Jokerit_EN) February 25, 2022
Russian and Belarusian soccer leagues were also dropped. Russian teams were recently banned from FIFA and UEFA competitions. This is including the 2022 World Cup. UEFA is moving its 2022 Champions League final from St Petersburg, Russia to Paris.
As well, betting lines on the popular Moscow Liga Pro table tennis were ended. This Russian table tennis loop dominated the sports betting markets in 2020. It was one of the rare sporting events to continue competition at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Formula One canceled the September 25 Russian Grand Prix. Several companies are ending sponsorship agreements with Russian sports teams, In other countries, teams are backing out of sponsorship deals with Russian companies. Schalke 04 of the German Bundesliga ended its deal with Russian energy company Gazprom.
DraftKings A Major US Player
DraftKings and FanDuel are battling it out for the honor of saying that they are the #1 online sports betting site in the USA. For 2021, the third quarter earnings at DraftKings was $212.82 million.
— DraftKings News (@DraftKingsNews) March 3, 2022
Currently, Boston-based DraftKings is operating sportsbooks in 17 US states. These include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. DraftKings signed up over 100,000 new customers within the first month of its August 2021 launch in Arizona.
At the time of publishing, major competitors such as BetMGM and Barstool Sportsbook. Longtime rival FanDuel Sportsbook did not have any KHL games on its board, which is notable as Russia’s top league commenced its playoffs earlier this week.
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
