Two Pennsylvania residents have filed a lawsuit against FanDuel, DraftKings and Genius Sports, as well as the NFL, for developing, distributing and profiting from an “unreasonably dangerous product designed to maximize betting behavior that leads to addiction.”
The product liability lawsuit was filed with the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), and also alleges the NFL – due to its role as a major shareholder in Genius Sports – profits from increased online betting and supplies the organization with player and game data.
"Following in the footsteps of the tobacco industry, the online sports gambling industry has developed a highly addictive, difficult-to-resist product that bombards consumers with dozens of betting opportunities every minute of the day and that is leaving a trail of devastated victims, like our clients Chris Sage and Terry Thompson,” PHAI Litigation Director Andrew Rainer said.
“Instead of continuing to stuff their pockets with billions of dollars in annual revenues, the perpetrators of this devastation – DraftKings, FanDuel, Genius Sports and, tragically, the NFL – must be held to account. That is the process we are beginning today."
According to the lawsuit, each operator uses online sports betting platforms which “relentlessly push addictive live in-game microbets” and “dominate both the sports world and the lives of the many millions of Americans addicted to online gambling.”
Christopher Sage and Terry Thompson believe they were “lured” into continuously placing wagers on microbets through DraftKings and FanDuel, choosing to file the lawsuit under the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
Both parties were also assigned a “VIP Host” who communicated with each directly, eventually providing promotional offers even after “at least one” of Sage or Thompson indicated they no longer wanted to participate in online betting.
Thompson confirmed he began placing wagers with FanDuel during October 2020 and DraftKings in 2022, resulting in the loss of approximately $1.83m, while Sage placed himself on Pennnsylvania’s self-exclusion list once formally diagnosed with a gambling addiction disorder in March 2025.
Micro-bets, such as whether the next pitch of a baseball game will be a strike or ball, require real-time data feeds to accept and resolve wagers throughout the respective matchup, such as those provided by the NFL to Genius Sports.
FanDuel launched its sportsbook offering in Arkansas through a partnership with Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort on March 23, giving users access to parlays, prop bets and in-game wagering
