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The rise of legal sports betting in America has predictably led to a spike in the number of people who’ve found themselves grappling with a gambling addiction. That includes two men in Pennsylvania who have filed a lawsuit against the NFL and some sportsbooks the league has partnered with after collectively finding themselves down millions of dollars.
This May will mark the eighth anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision that opened up the door for the legalization of sports betting across America, and as things currently stand, 40 states have passed laws giving people within their borders the chance to get in on the action.
It’s a very lucrative industry that generated more than $13 billion in revenue in 2024, and while plenty of sports fans viewed the development as a welcome change, there were inevitably going to be some downsides.
Virtually every broadcast is now plastered with ads for sportsbooks along with sponsored segments promoting parlays that usually don’t end up cashing, which are accompanied by warnings reminding you to “Gamble Responsibly.”
Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done for some people, and a couple of guys who blame the NFL and the sportsbooks they’ve linked up with for fueling a gambling addiction have decided to take them to court.
Two gamblers filed a lawsuit against the NFL, DraftKings, and FanDuel, after developing an addiction that cost them over $2 million
According to a study that was published in 2024, online searches linked to advice for dealing with a gambling addiction have risen 23% since the aforementioned Supreme Court ruling ushered in a new era of betting.
That affliction ended up being a very costly one for Christopher Sage and Terry Thompson, who are listed as the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that was recently filed in Pennsylvania that accuses the NFL of playing a role in the problematic habits they developed while gambling on DraftKings and FanDuel, two of the league’s official betting partners.
According to ESPN, the central issue of the case is the “in-game micro-betting” option that allows users to wager on individual plays, which is fueled by the data the NFL supplies to sportsbooks via Genius Sports, the data firm the league partially owns.
The legal team representing Sage and Thompson, which has ties to the Public Health Advocacy Institute, says both men had managed to exercise self-control while gambling for over 20 years before things began to spiral after they got hooked on those live bets, with the former losing $1.83 million and the latter finding himself down around $175,000.
The lawsuit also names five employees who served as “VIP hosts” for the sportsbooks and argues they were responsible for keeping the duo hooked by offering gifts including pricy champagne and trips to the Super Bowl. Sage claims he also put himself on the state’s self-exclusion list after being officially diagnosed with a gambling addiction but was contacted by one of the hosts after the fact.
The filing asserts the NFL and the sportsbooks it’s affiliated with violated the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law by failing to truly disclose the potential risks of gambling. Sage and Thompson are seeking a jury trial and damages to compensate them for the losses and the fallout of their addiction.