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# Congress Presses FanDuel to Scrap Its VIP Rewards Program
- URL: https://www.igamingnews.biz/fanduel-vip-program-congressional-pressure/
- Published: 2026-08-12T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-12T13:31:01.000Z
- Description: Lawmakers gave FanDuel CEO Christian Genetski until Aug. 24 to answer questions on its VIP program after a bettor lost $1.5M and got a Bryce Harper video.
- Author: iGamingNews Editorial Desk
- Tags: Bettors Corner, Responsible Gambling, US

*Image credit: Source: office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Never imply stock depicts the actual event.*

**Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Reps. Paul Tonko and Valerie Foushee sent FanDuel CEO Christian Genetski a letter on August 10 demanding the company end its VIP rewards program, with eight questions he has until August 24 to answer.** A separate letter went to Major League Baseball and its players' union asking them to bar athletes from promoting sportsbooks and to curb what the lawmakers called "predatory promotion."

The letters followed a Philadelphia Inquirer report on Terry Thompson, a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania bettor who lost $1.5 million on FanDuel. In 2024, a FanDuel VIP host sent Thompson a 21-second personalized video from Phillies star Bryce Harper, recorded through Cameo, as a reward for his continued play. Harper says he had no idea FanDuel would use the clip that way. Thompson also received Super Bowl tickets and champagne, and, according to the lawmakers' letter citing the Inquirer's reporting, considered suicide earlier this year rather than tell his family how much he had lost.

The lawmakers' language was blunt: "FanDuel should not be using reckless and unscrupulous loyalty programs to drive bettors into debt and addiction." Their letter to Genetski asks whether VIP managers have sent other athlete or celebrity videos to gamblers and whether FanDuel monitors those managers to stop them targeting people showing signs of problem gambling. FanDuel's response so far has stayed general, saying customer protection informs every decision it makes as a company and that it does not compromise on doing right by customers. MLB and the players' union both declined to comment.

Nothing here changes what a FanDuel VIP host can legally do today. No regulator has ordered the program shut down, and the questions are due at the end of the month, not answered yet. What the letters do is put a name and a dollar figure on a criticism regulators in the UK and elsewhere have been acting on for years: loyalty programs that use personal outreach to keep a losing customer betting are a design choice, not a side effect. US sportsbooks have so far kept these programs almost entirely unregulated, resting instead on the same self-exclusion tools and deposit alerts that already carry [the affordability debate playing out around high-value players](https://www.igamingnews.biz/high-value-players-igaming-growth-risk/).

For bettors, the practical takeaway is narrower than the headline. A VIP host calling with tickets, gifts, or a celebrity shout-out is not a sign you are valued, it is a sign your losses are worth retaining. If a program like this is reaching out to you personally, that is the moment to use the tools operators already offer, deposit limits, cooling-off periods, [state-level account caps like Massachusetts now requires disclosed](https://www.igamingnews.biz/sportsbook-account-limits-massachusetts-rule/), or self-exclusion, rather than treat the attention as a reward for playing well. Congress asking questions is not consumer protection; using the limits already on the app is.

## Genetski's answers are the actual test

August 24 is the date that matters here, not August 10\. If FanDuel's written answers confirm VIP hosts routinely target flagged accounts, this becomes a case study lawmakers can cite in every future push for federal responsible-gambling standards, the kind of push that has stalled for years against a patchwork of state rules and [a tax code that already treats big losers unevenly](https://www.igamingnews.biz/gambling-loss-deduction-cap-us-bettors/). If the answers are narrow and procedural, the letter fades into the same file as prior congressional inquiries that never became law.