DraftKings—a daily fantasy sports platform—was forced to pay millions of dollars in prize money out of pocket following Week 1 of the NFL season after it failed to generate enough entries to cover winners' guaranteed earnings.
Citing industry sources and high-volume players, ESPN.com's David Purdum and Don Van Natta Jr. reported DraftKings had to pay somewhere between $2 million and $4 million to compensate for the smaller sum generated by entry fees.
A DraftKings spokesperson told Purdum and Van Natta the $4 million figure was "grossly exaggerated" and that the expenditures paid out of pocket were considered a "marketing expense.