Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Reps. Paul Tonko and Valerie Foushee have asked Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association and FanDuel to end promotional practices they say helped turn a Bryce Harper Cameo video into gambling marketing. In letters sent to FanDuel chief executive Christian Genetski, MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred and Bruce Meyer, the lawmakers also demanded that FanDuel end its VIP program for bettors, especially those with a gambling addiction.
As covered in July, Pennsylvania’s gaming regulator was already reviewing the Harper clip after it was sent to a VIP bettor with a gambling problem. The Inquirer reported that a FanDuel VIP manager sent a personal video greeting from Harper to Terry Thompson in 2024, and that Thompson later placed $1.5 million in losing bets with the sportsbook.
The lawmakers said FanDuel should not use loyalty programs to drive bettors into debt and addiction. They described VIP managers as cultivating 'false friendships’ to entice more betting, and asked FanDuel to answer eight questions by Aug. 24 about its VIP practices, including whether managers have sent videos of other athletes or celebrities to gamblers and how the company monitors those employees.
In a separate press release, the senators and representative said the Harper message was prepared at Thompson’s VIP manager’s request and was meant to entice further gambling. They said the late-2024 video wished Thompson an 'extra special Thanksgiving’ and referred to his son, and that Thompson ultimately wagered $18.5 million and lost more than $1.5 million through FanDuel.
The release said Thompson took out several mortgages on his home and sold shares of his business to fund the addiction. It also said Harper told questions from reporters that he recorded the Cameo message but did not know FanDuel would use the 21-second video as a reward for a gambler, and that he would not have taken part had he known.
The lawmakers also argued that MLB’s rules allow players to sign endorsement deals with sportsbook companies as long as they do not encourage betting on baseball, a structure they called a 'systemic failure’ rooted in the 'deep enmeshment between leagues, teams, and sports books.’ MLB’s collective bargaining agreement allows athletes to appear in ads or make personal appearances for casinos, racetracks or sportsbook companies on the same condition.
FanDuel said it uses a monitoring system to flag concerning patterns and 'trained specialists’ to help gamblers showing signs of harmful behavior. A company spokesperson said, “Customer protection informs every decision we make as an organization, and we do not compromise when it comes to doing the right thing for our customers.”
The dispute lands as Congress is scrutinising sports betting more broadly. The Hill reported that lawmakers are increasingly concerned about game integrity and athlete safety, and that the Senate Commerce and Technology Committee was slated to examine the rapid expansion of sports betting in the United States and its impact on games.
