In response, the MLBPA said last week it would support banning players<\/a> from doing promotional work for sportsbook VIP programs in the union\u2019s next collective bargaining agreement. <\/p>\n The lawmakers had called on FanDuel to eliminate its VIP rewards and disclose information about those services, including whether the company had sent videos of other athletes to VIP bettors, or offered promotions to gamblers who experienced losing streaks and attempted to cut back on wagering.<\/p>\n In an Aug. 14 response, FanDuel wrote that it is \u201ccommitted to being a transparent and cooperative partner\u201d but did not directly respond to many of the lawmakers\u2019 questions. <\/p>\n The company said it spent $158 million on responsible gaming in 2025, and that it extensively reviews customers\u2019 betting history before offering them VIP status. <\/p>\n \u201cSports wagering is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States,\u201d wrote Cory Fox, a FanDuel senior vice president, \u201cand FanDuel operates a licensed online sportsbook in 26 U.S. jurisdictions.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawmakers seized on this point, writing that FanDuel also has a prediction market, FanDuel Predicts, \u201cwhich undermines the integrity of \u2014 if not bypasses \u2014 those very regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n A FanDuel spokesperson said he was looking into the matter Thursday morning, but did not respond to follow up requests for comment. <\/p>\n Prediction markets<\/a> allow customers to wager on a range of subjects: sports, politics, Hollywood award shows, the weather. They\u2019re regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which thus far has enforced few limitations on companies like Kalshi and Polymarket. <\/p>\n Critics \u2014 including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie<\/a>, who works as a strategic adviser to the American Gaming Association \u2014 contend that prediction markets are running illegal sports betting operations. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport earlier this week petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> to decide whether states should have the authority to regulate the markets. <\/p>\n Sports betting’s growing impact <\/p>\n In their latest message to FanDuel, the lawmakers described the company\u2019s \u201cVIP perks, constant push notifications, and personalized promotions\u201d as exploitative, and demanded the company provide a written response to eight questions by Sept. 17. <\/p>\n Sportsbook VIP rewards and push notifications are a central thread in a lawsuit that the nonprofit Public Health Advocacy Institute filed in March<\/a> in Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia against FanDuel, DraftKings, the NFL, and the data company Genius Sports on behalf Montgomery County<\/a> resident Terry Thompson and Delaware County<\/a> resident Christopher Sage, VIP bettors who each developed ruinous gambling addictions. <\/p>\n FanDuel, DraftKings, the NFL, and Genius Sports have each sought to have the case dismissed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thompson, who received the 21-second video of Harper, lost more than $1.8 million on sports bets, and planned to die by suicide earlier this year, rather than reveal to his family the scope of his losses. <\/p>\n Harper has said that he recorded the message<\/a> through the video service Cameo, but didn\u2019t know that Thompson had an addiction, or that FanDuel intended to use it as a VIP reward. <\/p>\n The Inquirer will continue to report on issues related to the growth of gambling addiction \u2014 among teens and adults \u2014 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<\/a> and wbender@inquirer.com<\/a><\/p>\n Acknowledgment<\/p>\n The Inquirer\u2019s journalism is supported, in part, by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and readers like you. News and editorial content are created independently of The Inquirer\u2019s donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer\u2019s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com\/donate<\/a>. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org\/supporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min Three members of Congress renewed their criticism of FanDuel Sportsbook on Thursday, accusing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[353711,97,259,260],"class_list":["post-835485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-congress-fanduel-vip-addiction-bryce-harper-blumenthal","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/circle_outline_footer_light_theme.png\"\/)
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