Senate, Congress members demand FanDuel eliminate VIP programs for bettors, citing Bryce Harper controversy
Three members of Congress also called on MLB and MLBPA to prohibit baseball players to do promotional work for sportsbook companies.
Three members of Congress on Monday demanded that FanDuel Sportsbook end its VIP reward program and called on Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to prohibit athletes from doing promotional work for gambling entities in response to a “deeply disturbing” controversy involving Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper and a VIP bettor who had a gambling addiction.
The Inquirer reported in July that a FanDuel VIP manager had sent a personal video greeting from Harper in 2024 to Terry Thompson, a Montgomery County resident who ultimately lost $1.5 million on bets that he placed with the sportsbook operator.
Harper later said that he had recorded the message through the video service Cameo, but didn’t know that FanDuel would utilize the 21-second video as a reward for a gambler.
“FanDuel should not be using reckless and unscrupulous loyalty programs to drive bettors into debt and addiction,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) and U.S. Reps. Paul D. Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Valerie P. Foushee (D-N.C.) wrote to the company’s CEO, Christian Genetski. “As such, we strongly demand FanDuel to end its VIP program for bettors, especially those suffering from a gambling addiction, on its platform.”
Thompson planned to die by suicide earlier this year, rather than confess to his family the scope of his losses, according to a lawsuit that the nonprofit Public Health Advocacy Institute filed in March on Thompson’s behalf against FanDuel and DraftKings, which had also allegedly provided him with VIP perks.
The three Democrats, who cited The Inquirer’s reporting in their letter, asked Genetski to respond by Aug. 24 to eight questions about the company’s practices, including whether FanDuel VIP managers have sent videos of other athletes or celebrities to gamblers, and if the company monitors those managers to ensure they’re not extending predatory offers to problem gamblers.
The lawmakers wrote that VIP managers foster “false friendships” with gamblers to entice them to place additional bets.
Thompson has alleged that his FanDuel VIP host sometimes asked about his family, and provided him with tickets to two Super Bowls and champagne.
FanDuel did not respond Monday to a request for comment. But in the wake of the Harper controversy, the company had said in a statement that it’s committed to ”fostering a culture of responsible gaming and protecting our customers."
In a separate letter to MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred and Bruce Meyer, the players union’s interim executive director, the lawmakers called for “an end to the MLB and MLBPA policies that enabled this type of predatory promotion.”
MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, which is set to expire in December, allows athletes to appear in advertisements or make personal appearances for casinos, racetracks, or sportsbook companies, so long as the ballplayers do not encourage betting on baseball.
That players aren’t prohibited from doing promotional work for gambling companies is a “systemic failure,” the lawmakers wrote, “rooted in the deep enmeshment between leagues, teams, and sports books.”
A representative for Major League Baseball declined Monday to comment.
As part of negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement with MLB, the players union is seeking more freedom for players to seek endorsements from sportsbook operators and prediction markets, ESPN has reported.
MLBPA declined to comment.
Blumenthal, Tonko and Foushee also asked MLB and MLBPA to respond to questions about their partnerships with sportsbook operators. The lawmakers said that the league and the players union “must not allow players, regardless of their level of awareness, to legitimize sportsbook VIP programs designed to exploit the most vulnerable fans.”
Elected officials in Pennsylvania are separately planning legislation that would restrict or eliminate sportsbook VIP programs, and in-game microbets, an effort that Joe Maloney, the president of the Sports Betting Alliance — a national advocacy organization whose members include FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365, and Fanatics — said the organization will oppose.
The Inquirer will continue to report on issues related to the growth of gambling addiction — among teens and adults — across Pennsylvania. If you or someone you know wants to speak with a reporter, please contact David Gambacorta or William Bender at dgambacorta@inquirer.com and wbender@inquirer.com
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