FanDuel has defended its VIP betting program in a letter to Congress, saying the program operates under the same responsible-gaming rules as the rest of its sportsbook and that its account managers are trained to spot signs of harm. The company sent the response after Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Reps. Paul D. Tonko and Valerie P. Foushee asked it to end the program.
In the Aug. 14 letter, Cory Fox, FanDuel’s senior vice president for public policy and sustainability, said the company is committed to operating in an accountable and transparent way. He also said the sportsbook is available in 26 U.S. jurisdictions and that each licence comes with requirements covering responsible-gaming promotion, customer monitoring and responses to signs of harm.
FanDuel said its VIP programme is meant to offer a small group of customers a higher level of service, not different rules. Before extending a VIP invitation, the company said it checks whether an account is active, in good standing and free of suspension, then reviews account history including previous VIP participation, responsible-gaming notes, fraud or chargeback history and promotion abuse.
The company said VIP account managers are salaried and are not paid according to how much customers wager or lose. It also said they receive mandatory training on the VIP programme and responsible gaming, with quarterly sessions and recurring refreshers, while every FanDuel employee completes responsible-gaming training within 30 days of joining and renews it each year.
FanDuel said VIP customers remain subject to the same responsible-gaming standards as everyone else. The letter says those customers get regular touchpoints with account managers, who discuss tools such as MySpend, deposit and wager limits, timeouts and self-exclusion, while every email from a VIP account manager includes responsible-gaming language and links to those tools.
The company also described a broader system of controls. It said customers can set deposit, wager, loss and time limits, receive monthly activity statements, and take timeouts from three days to a year or self-exclude permanently. FanDuel said anyone who self-excludes is immediately removed from every FanDuel product and is not contacted while excluded.
FanDuel pointed to newer monitoring tools as well. It said it launched Real-Time Check-In in 2025 to use machine learning to spot deposits that do not fit a customer’s usual pattern, prompting a review or, in larger cases, requiring the customer to lower the amount or set a limit. It also said about 3.5 million customers used MySpend during the 2024-2025 NFL season.
The company said it had launched its “Play with a Plan” campaign in January 2026 and described it as a multi-channel responsible-gaming push across television, programmatic, social and audio. FanDuel also said it is a founding member of the Responsible Online Gaming Association, which it said has raised more than $20 million from members and includes a data-clearinghouse and certification standard subject to third-party audit.
The letter came after the lawmakers accused FanDuel and others of using predatory VIP perks, including a personalised Bryce Harper video aimed at Terry Thompson, whom they said wagered $18.5 million and lost more than $1.5 million. The lawmakers asked FanDuel, MLB and the MLBPA to respond by 24 August.
