The City of Philadelphia has responded to a federal lawsuit from DraftKings over the early stages of an investigation into the online casino and sportsbook’s business practices.
In April, Philadelphia subpoenaed DraftKings to investigate advertising directed at city consumers. DraftKings instead filed a lawsuit on July 17. On Sept. 15, Philadelphia responded in a 38-page court filing seeking to have the case thrown out, citing lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.
Lacking ‘Good Faith’
DraftKings’ lawsuit’s “most glaring deficiency is that it is woefully premature,” the city wrote in court documents, framing the filing as an attempt to stop the investigation before it begins.
“DraftKings, instead of simply responding to an administrative subpoena or negotiating in good faith with the City regarding its objections, has rushed to court to avoid even these initial steps in the investigation process.”
At the heart of the dispute is Philadelphia’s Consumer Protection Ordinance, which is separate from state law that authorizes DraftKings to operate online gambling in Pennsylvania.
According to the city, it has legal authority to investigate the gambling firm’s marketing practices:
“The [Pennsylvania] Gaming Act’s core licensing and device certification functions ensure consistent operation throughout the Commonwealth but they do not reach all aspects of conducting a licensee’s business. Certification of a slot machine’s random number generator may benefit from a single statewide answer, for example, to protect gamblers and to set clear rules for licensees. Advertising and promotional practices toward Philadelphia consumers, on the other hand, are not covered by the Act or its regulations, and there is no interconnected infrastructure nor technical standard that would function incoherently if consumer protection standards were applied locally.”
The city said DraftKings ran to federal court without a “ripe controversy to adjudicate.”
Zooming Out
The federal case between Philadelphia and the Boston-based gambling firm does not involve any specific DraftKings advertisements or promos.
According to a December 2025 report from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the metro area is the nation’s epicenter of online sports betting marketing. According to public health experts, online sports betting is strongly associated with severe addiction and financial harm.
In response to the growing crisis, Pennsylvania policymakers recently released a 126-page legislative report on the inadequacy of existing regulation.
For DraftKings, the fight with Philadelphia is one of many past and ongoing cases related to gambling harm. The City of Baltimore also sued it in 2025, and it has faced several gambling addiction-related complaints from former users, including a high-profile Pennsylvania case involving alleged misconduct by VIP hosts. The company is also facing accusations that its prediction market product is a form of illegal gambling.
In 2023, DraftKings offered a parlay bet promotion referencing the Sept. 11 attacks, but it didn’t face regulatory penalties in New York over the incident.
Image by Bruce Emmerling from Pixabay
