When it comes to the inevitable reckoning for the Wild West era of sports betting, it will come in one or more of these forms: Regulation, prosecution, or litigation.
The NFL is facing a new piece of litigation arising from its role in facilitating microbetting.
Via David Purdum of ESPN, a pair of Pennsylvania men have sued the NFL, DraftKings, FanDuel, Genius Sports, and five specific sportsbook employees over losses incurred through in-game microbets.
Plaintiffs Christopher Sage and Terry Thompson claim that their gambling habits blossomed into full-blown addictions once DraftKings and FanDuel made microbets available.
“Within just a few years of placing their first microbets on the Sportsbook Apps, Plaintiffs nearly lost everything,” the complaint alleges.
The NFL and Genius Sports have been added to the lawsuit based on the fact that they provide an official data feed to sportsbooks.
The complaint alleges that VIP hosts employed by the sportsbooks continuously enticed them to wager.
Per the complaint, Thompson’s FanDuel host allegedly texted him amid a losing streak on December 18, 2022, with this message: “[W]hat do we think about taking a timeout and enjoying the holidays with the family and starting fresh after the new year?”
A month later, the same host allegedly texted Thompson about an “emergency.” The “emergency” allegedly was a gift package to Super Bowl LVIII in Arizona.
Thompson allegedly lost $1.83 million.
Sage claimed he placed himself on Pennsylvania’s “self-exclusion” gambling list on March 15, 2025, after he was diagnosed with a gambling addiction. He claims that he continued to receive messages from his DraftKings VIP host.
This may just be the tip of the iceberg, for everyone involved. And possibly the beginning of the reckoning.
But here’s the basic reality. The cost of the reckoning won’t come close to billions in revenue that have been generated through an industry that needs much more regulation, prosecution, and litigation than it has experienced.
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