In another letter to Congress outlining its VIP program practices, FanDuel noted it has sent about 30 personalized videos from athletes and entertainers to customers over the past two years.
FanDuel sent the details in a Sept. 24 letter to three members of Congress who have questioned its VIP program since the summer. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported the letter last week.
The letter laid out how FanDuel VIP hosts are trained, monitored and limited. It closed by calling itself “a transparent, responsive, and cooperative partner” and also said it has no intentions of ending the VIP program.
A FanDuel spokesperson declined to comment on the letter.
Harper video to problem gambler sparks outcry
In 2024, a FanDuel VIP host sent a Cameo greeting from Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper to a bettor with a gambling addiction. Following news of that this summer, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Valerie Foushee (D-NC) pressed the company for details about its VIP program.
FanDuel initially responded in August, but left the lawmakers wanting more. The politicians responded Sept. 3, reiterating eight questions about the program. The Sept. 24 letter is FanDuel’s latest response and tackles the eight questions across a four page letter from Cory Fox, the company’s senior vice president of public policy and sustainability.
On Sept. 23, a day before FanDuel’s letter was dated, Blumenthal and Tonko joined the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) in Washington to launch a gambling reform campaign. In March, the PHAI filed a Philadelphia lawsuit on behalf of Terry Thompson, the bettor who received the Harper video.
The Congressional interrogation into FanDuel’s VIP program is also part of a broader reckoning for the industry over problem gambling. A New York Times investigation last month reported that DraftKings built machine learning models to find which customers would gamble, and lose, more in response to promotions, while a tool meant to flag at-risk bettors stalled. Similar articles about prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket recently appeared in major media outlets as well.
How Congressional inquiry got here
The Inquirer reported in July that a FanDuel VIP host sent the 21-second Harper video to Thompson in November 2024. Thompson reportedly lost $1.5 million at FanDuel, and the ensuing lawsuit said he planned to take his own life earlier this year rather than tell his family how much he had lost. Harper has said he did not know how FanDuel would use the video.
On Aug. 10, the three lawmakers demanded FanDuel end its VIP program while sending FanDuel CEO Christian Genetski eight questions about the program.
FanDuel replied four days later. The reply said VIP account managers are salaried and not paid based on customers’ wagering, and walked through its responsible gaming tools.
The lawmakers were not satisfied and on Sept. 3, the three called the reply “misleading and incomplete,” and sent the same eight questions again with a Sept. 17 deadline.
What FanDuel told lawmakers this time
In FanDuel’s Sept. 24 letter, Fox took each question in turn.
FanDuel denied offering perks to keep customers from cutting back or closing their accounts. It said it separates “commercial retention efforts” aimed at bettors who might have moved to a competitor from cases where a customer says they are stepping back for responsible gaming reasons.
It said VIP rewards above certain levels need extra approval, and that hosts may contact customers only through approved company channels. The letter notes hosts are trained to escalate red flags, from a customer worried about paying for necessities to language suggesting self-harm. FanDuel also pointed to Real-Time Check-In, a machine learning tool launched in 2025 that flags deposits out of line with a customer’s usual pattern.
FanDuel also responded to criticism of FanDuel Predicts. It described the CME Group joint venture as operating under a separate federal framework and said FanDuel does not run a VIP program for Predicts “at this time.”
The lawmakers have not publicly responded to the latest letter.
The MLB Players Association told lawmakers in August that it would support barring players from personalized VIP marketing in its next collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires in December.
Blumenthal and Tonko’s broader betting push
Blumenthal and Tonko have become the most persistent critics of the industry in Congress.
They first introduced the SAFE Bet Act in 2024 and brought it back in March 2025. The bill would set federal rules for state-licensed sportsbooks, including deposit and wager limits and affordability checks. It would also ban marketing during live games and the use of AI to shape promotions.
In March, Blumenthal introduced the Prediction Markets Security and Integrity Act. It would ban contracts on war, crack down on insider trading and return oversight of the markets to the states.
The new campaign in conjunction with the PHAI aims to push those efforts through hearings and federal minimum standards while pulling together sports betting and prediction markets.
“We know that the gambling industry, which includes not only DraftKings and FanDuel but also the prediction markets, is exploiting problem gambling,” Blumenthal said at the launch last month.
Regulators, media take a harder look
Massachusetts was looking at VIP programs before the recent AI inquiry. A commission analysis found operators were limiting customers who win regularly while giving VIP status and rewards mostly to customers who lose, WBUR reported in October 2025.
Commissioners fielded a variety of ideas, including a minimum VIP age of 25, affordability checks before granting VIP status and an end to incentives that encourage riskier play.
“VIP programs should be for those who can afford to be VIPs, and it shouldn’t be predatory,” MGC Chair Jordan Maynard said at the time. The commission was still discussing VIP programs as of February.
In Pennsylvania, the Joint State Government Commission listed limits on VIP programs and a ban on in-game microbets as options for lawmakers.
National outlets are also increasingly highlighting problem gambling issues. This spring, The Atlantic published a lengthy piece titled, “My Year as a Degenerate Sports Gambler.”
In a story published last month, ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson posed as a problem gambler for 10 weeks.
Pearson reported that DraftKings invited him into its VIP program the day after he lost nearly $1,800 in one night. Less than a week after a three-day cool-off, his VIP host added $1,250 in bonus funds to his largest deposit yet. DraftKings’ responsible gaming chief Lori Kalani told ProPublica, “the system worked the way it was supposed to.”
