FanDuel responded to congressional criticism on Aug. 14 by defending its VIP sportsbook program and saying the offer sits inside the same responsible-gaming framework as the rest of its business. The company was answering three Democrats, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Reps. Paul D. Tonko and Valerie P. Foushee, who had asked it to end the program and respond to eight questions by Aug. 24.
The lawmakers’ challenge centred on a personalized Bryce Harper video sent through FanDuel’s VIP channel to Terry Thompson, a bettor who later said he had a gambling addiction and, according to reporting, lost about $1.5 million over several years. They also urged Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association to stop players from taking part in sportsbook promotions. As covered in July, Pennsylvania gaming regulators were already reviewing the Harper Cameo video that FanDuel sent to Thompson.
In the letter, according to Sports Betting Dime, Cory Fox, FanDuel’s senior vice president for public policy and sustainability, said the company is committed to operating in an “accountable and transparent” manner. He said sports wagering is heavily regulated and that FanDuel runs a licensed online sportsbook in 26 U.S. jurisdictions, with each licence carrying requirements for responsible-gaming promotion, customer monitoring and responses to signs of harm.
Fox said FanDuel’s Responsible Gaming team watches deposit and withdrawal history, increases in wager size, cancelled withdrawals and even in-app chat language for warning signs. When risks are detected, the company can move from education to mandatory limits, temporary suspension and permanent exclusion, and any customer who says they have a gambling problem is immediately and permanently barred from every FanDuel product.
FanDuel also said VIP customers are screened before being invited into the program, and that VIP hosts and account managers are salaried rather than paid on betting outcomes. Their communications include responsible-gaming language and tools such as MySpend, limit setting, timeouts and self-exclusion, while every employee completes responsible-gaming training within 30 days of joining and renews it each year.
The company tied that defence to broader spending. FanDuel said parent Flutter Entertainment has invested $158 million in responsible gaming, and Fox described the company’s “Play with a Plan” campaign, launched in January, as a multi-channel effort across television, programmatic, social and audio advertising.
FanDuel also pointed to the Responsible Online Gaming Association, of which it is a founding member. ROGA’s website says it represents 90% of the legal U.S. sports-betting industry by handle, has selected LexisNexis Risk Solutions to develop and administer a data clearinghouse for self-excluded customers, and is building a certification standard that requires a third-party audit.
