Major online betting platforms and the National Football League (NFL) are facing a product liability lawsuit in Pennsylvania alleging that their live in-game microbetting product is an “inherently dangerous product designed to maximize betting behavior that leads to addiction.”
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) filed the suit on behalf of two Pennsylvania residents against DraftKings, FanDuel and Genius Sports Ltd. and the National Football League (NFL), one of the largest shareholders in Genius Sports, which supplies data from professional sports leagues needed to support online sports gambling.
The complaint filed in a Philadelphia court alleges that the platforms use technology including artificial intelligence to “supercharge” betting and create “addicted gamblers and encourage them to make more of the microbets.” While DraftKings and FanDuel provide the platform and incentives, Genius Sports and the NFL supply the data needed and they all profit from a “coordinated effort to convert ordinary sports fans into non-stop gamblers,” the plaintiffs contend.
The plaintiffs are suing under the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, as well as for design defects, a failure to warn the public as to the unreasonably dangerous nature of the products, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and other legal theories.
The companies have not yet responded to the litigation.
The plaintiffs, Christopher Sage and Terry Thompson, both signed up to bet through the DraftKings and FanDuel sportsbook apps. The complaint alleges that the defendants lured them into making more and more microbets on the DraftKings and FanDuel platforms by sending constant “push” notifications that promoted microbets.
The suit says DraftKings and FanDuel also assigned each man a personal “VIP Host” who communicated with them personally on their mobile phones and enticed them with promotional offers, trips to sporting events, and other gifts. On one occasion, his VIP host sent Thompson a $500 bottle of champagne.
“By coordinating their use of immersive marketing, AI, cloud computing, and algorithms customized for every customer, they hijack customers’ brains and cause catastrophic harm to lifelong fans like Mr. Sage and Mr. Thompson,” commented Mark Gottlieb, executive director at PHAI.
Within just a few years of placing their first microbets, the plaintiffs nearly lost all their money, houses, business, families, and, in Thompson’s case, nearly his life, the lawsuit claims.
