Home AWS outage disrupts gambling sites and sportsbooks ahead of Monday Night Football

AWS outage disrupts gambling sites and sportsbooks ahead of Monday Night Football

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage disrupted services around the world, including for gambling sites ahead of Monday Night Football.

An ‘operational issue’ at AWS has caused knock-on outages for various online services, across social media like Snapchat and Roblox, banking apps around the world, and even institutions like the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority, HMRC. In the world of gambling, betting apps and sportsbooks were also affected, leaving users unable to withdraw funds or place bets in some cases.

That includes some gambling giants like FanDuel and DraftKings, with both taking to social media to alert users of the issues.

“We are aware that users are currently having trouble logging in and fully accessing our platform,” wrote FanDuel on X at 9:38am (ET) on October 20. “Our team is actively investigating and working toward resolution. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience in the meantime.” They later confirmed their statement to ReadWrite, saying that the matter had been resolved.

The company continued to update users about the progress in returning services to normal throughout the day, as issues were gradually resolved in different regions. By 11:31pm (ET) the same day, FanDuel reported that all sportsbook platforms were now live again.

DraftKings was similarly affected, although seemingly to a lesser degree. The company’s statement and user reports showed that the outage seemed to largely affect withdrawals, rather than preventing access to the sportsbook entirely.

Gambling fans react to the AWS outage

The outage couldn’t have come at a worse time for sports bettors, with it disrupting people’s access to gambling services in the lead-up to Monday Night Football. October 20 saw the San Francisco 49ers go up against the Atlanta Falcons, but those who couldn’t get onto FanDuel, DraftKings, or their other app of choice were unable to withdraw funds for previously placed bets or see their bets reflected online.

This led to uncertainty and a lack of confidence in placing bets, with this NFL season expected to see $30 billion of spending on gambling in the US. Users were quick to share their frustrations on social media, as well as wondering whether gambling operators would honor bets that fans were unable to alter during the outage.

“Will Fanduel honor my bets?” wrote one user on reddit. “I can see the transactions but not the slips.”

“I just have $200 nowhere right now,” complained another. “My bet isn’t there and my money is gone.”

The outage appears to have ended now, and all services should have returned to normal. ReadWrite has contacted AWS, FanDuel, and DraftKings for comment.

UPDATED: Included confirmation from FanDuel on October 21, 2025.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Rachael Davies
Freelance Journalist

Rachael Davies has spent six years reporting on tech and entertainment, writing for publications like the Evening Standard, Huffington Post, Dazed, and more. From niche topics like the latest gaming mods to consumer-faced guides on the latest tech, she puts her MA in Convergent Journalism to work, following avenues guided by a variety of interests. As well as writing, she also has experience in editing as the UK Editor of The Mary Sue , as well as speaking on the important of SEO in journalism at the Student Press Association National Conference. You can find her full portfolio over on…