Former ‘Bachelor’ Contestant Roper Tolbert Under DraftKings Collusion Exam

Posted on: January 6, 2020, 08:46h. 

Last updated on: January 6, 2020, 09:23h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Jade Roper Tolbert, formerly a contestant on ABC’s hit show “The Bachelor,” and her husband, Tanner Tolbert, have drawn the ire of some in the daily fantasy sports community after the reality television star won $1 million in a DraftKings NFL contest over the weekend.

Former Bachelor contestants Jade Roper Tolbert and her husband Tanner are facing collusion allegations from the daily fantasy community after she won $1 million on DraftKings. (Image: Entertainment Tonight)

Roper Tolbert confirmed on Twitter that she won the top prize of $1 million in DraftKings’ $2.25 million Fantasy Football Millionaire Maker competition, which was based on the four NFL playoff games held on Saturday and Sunday.

Roper Tolbert’s winning entry scored 180.78 points to eke out a win over the second-place finisher, a competitor by the user name “spclk36” whose entry tallied 178.16 points, good enough for $100,000. Roper Tolbert finished fourth on season 19 of “The Bachelor,” and she would later appear on “Bachelor In Paradise,” where she met her husband, Tanner.

Former Bachelor contestant Jade Roper Tolbert confirms her $1 million DraftKings victory. (Image: Twitter)

Despite the element of romance, Roper Tolbert’s victory is sparking criticism from some daily fantasy players. They are alleging foul play because both she and her husband submitted 150 entries, the maximum allowed by DraftKings per contest.

This Bachelorette and her husband and both max enter the milly and not share Qbs?,” said Twitter user “gravycakesDFS.” “Her insta and twitter don’t have a single sports post prior either.”

What that poster and others are referring to is data indicating that Roper Tolbert and her spouse show little overlap across their 300 entries at the vital quarterback position.

Collusion Calls

Roper Tolbert’s $1 million win has left a bad taste in some DraftKings player mouths, with many saying collusion between the winner and her husband was at play.

For example, Tanner reportedly used Saints quarterback Drew Brees and the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson on 108 of his 150 entries, while his wife didn’t use those stars in any of her lineups. Conversely, the winning wife used the Texans’ DeShaun Watson and the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill a total of 96 times, while her husband didn’t “draft” those players at all.

Internet chatter was strong enough to spark a response from Boston-based DraftKings.

“We take the integrity and fairness of our contests very seriously and are looking into this matter,” said the company.

Still, Roper Tolbert garnered plenty of online support, particularly when posting a tweet revealing that she opted to use Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf in some of her lineups against her husband’s advice. Metcalf, a rookie out of Ole Miss, had seven catches for 160 yards and a touchdown, the equivalent of fantasy sports gold at that position.

Odd Timing

Allegations of collusion against DraftKings come less than two weeks after the company announced a merger with investment firm Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:DEACU) and SBTech, setting the stage for an initial public offering (IPO) later this year.

DraftKings and rival FanDuel dealt with a major scandal in 2015 when then-DraftKings employee Ethan Haskell, who had knowledge of users player selections, would use that information for profit on FanDuel because he was forbidden from participating in his employer’s contests.

That controversy caught the eye of federal regulators, sparked class action lawsuits, and got the two daily fantasy companies banned in Nevada.