Withdrawal Issues at PrizePicks: What Gives?

PrizePicks is now the leading Daily Fantasy Sports app on the planet.

Countless numbers of players report lightning fast payouts.

Still others, however, have issues.

Advertising on Facebook has its benefits.  But advertisers also don't have the luxury of shutting off the comments section.  It's the first place we go to when stumbling upon ads on Facebook.

To their credit, we estimate that around 75% of the comments pertaining to PrizePicks are positive.

Then there are these:

"People been complaining about cashout out sometimes isn't easy," wrote one person.

Another discussed their own experience: "I've been experiencing significant issues with withdrawing funds from the app.  While there are numerous ways of depositing money, withdrawing has proven nearly impossible, which feels quite frustrating."

We feel your pain.  Before Bitcoin became the top funding and payout method (from 2011 to 2016), offshore gambling sites had the ability to offer various deposit methods such as credit cards while withdrawing funds could take weeks.  Payments were not permitted on credit cards, as an example.

PrizePicks could very well be in the same boat operating in what is commonly viewed as a "gray area".  One of their products mirrors that of player prop parlays offered by regulated US sportsbooks.  As such, PrizePicks has been ordered to stop offering this product in certain states.  This trickles down to the payment platforms.  Processors won't always work with gaming companies that draw the ire of regulators in other states.

We've seen an influx of search traffic for PayID out of Australia.  This is a country that embraces gambling but despises so-called "black market" operators (don't say "gray").  If PayID is found to be offering their platform to unlicensed sites in Australia, the odds are pretty good they'll be cut off.  Australia takes the North Korea approach in that they block unlicensed gambling sites.

And it's not just payment providers that come under the wrath of regulators.  Last week, we reported on how UK gambling regulators are now investigating software provider Evolution Malta for allegedly offering their games to unlicensed operators targeting those in Great Britain.

Back to the States, PrizePicks and its DFS counterparts are in the same boat as all these social (charity) casinos popping up nearly daily.  Most - not all - operate from within the U.S., welcome customers from the States and offer products that are very much like gambling, if not outwardly gambling.  Few are licensed in any state. There is a certain irony that offshore gambling sites can be considered "less gray" in that most operate from outside the U.S. and are licensed by international regulators in jurisdictions such as Malta, Curacao and Antigua.

To be clear, there is zero evidence to suggest PrizePicks is having any sort of financial strain.  Far from it.  The company appears to be well-funded and a cash cow based on everything we've read.  We don't want to disparage the company.  PrizePicks is a phenomenal addition to the gambling community.  Trust us.  We've been covering the sector for more than 25 years now.  Just don't say "gambling". 

One thing lacking on the Facebook ads: There are no representatives coming in to respond to these withdrawal concerns. If you are going to advertise on social media, be sure to interact.

Hey, our feed is filled with advertisements for Semaglutide and the suppliers are super fast at responding to Facebook users concerns (yeah, it works).

PrizePicks needs to take a page out of the Semaglutide supplier Facebook advertising playbook.