FanDuel sent a video from star athlete Bryce Harper to a customer with a gambling problem

In Brief

FanDuel, a sports betting app, is being sued for allegedly utilizing VIP perks to deepen customers’ gambling addictions. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Phillies prima and two-time MLB MVP Bryce Harper sent a personalized video connection to Terry Thompson, 1 of 2 plaintiffs successful the case, arsenic portion of FanDuel’s peculiar attraction for large spenders.

FanDuel assigns VIP managers to physique idiosyncratic relationships with precocious rollers similar Thompson, who has wagered $18.5 cardinal with FanDuel since 2020. According to the lawsuit, helium yet took retired a 2nd and 3rd owe connected his home, mislaid it to foreclosure, and sought psychiatric attraction for gambling addiction. While these companies often woo their apical customers with Super Bowl tickets and different perks, the Inquirer recovered nary precedent for an active, prima jock similar Harper sending this benignant of idiosyncratic connection to a bettor.

In the 21-second video, obtained by the Inquirer, Harper does not straight archer Thompson to gamble; however, helium mentions that Thompson’s FanDuel big wanted to guarantee that Thompson had an “extra peculiar Thanksgiving.”

The video calls into question the muddied narration betwixt nonrecreational athletes and gambling apps. MLB players are prohibited from gambling — 2 pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, were federally indicted past twelvemonth for allegedly accepting bribes to hole pitches. However, the MLB partners extensively with sports books and prediction markets similar Polymarket, and gambling apps are often advertised successful ballparks and broadcasts.

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