Blumenthal Widens the VIP Inquiry Beyond FanDuel to Four Sportsbooks, Kalshi and Polymarket

Three Democrats who have spent since August questioning FanDuel's VIP programme have now asked DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, Fanatics, Kalshi and Polymarket to say how much their top customers lost before and after they were enrolled. The letters are requests, not findings, and the companies have until 5 November to answer.

• Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representatives Paul Tonko and Valerie Foushee wrote on 22 October to the chief executives of BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics, Kalshi and Polymarket about their VIP and rewards programmes, asking for answers by 5 November
• Each letter asks how many customers are enrolled, their average losses in the six months before and after enrolment, how many tried to cut back but were offered perks instead, and how much revenue the programme earns
• The lawmakers also ask whether VIP managers are coached to build personal relationships that encourage more gambling, and whether artificial intelligence is used to target bettors with perks
• The letters cite press reports rather than evidence of their own, and they carry no power to compel; FanDuel, which the lawmakers said gave misleading and incomplete answers in September, is not a recipient
• The round follows FanDuel's cancellation of a VIP Halloween outing at the Philadelphia Zoo "following guidance from our regulators", and a $5 median bet figure FanDuel published as the scrutiny grew

Six Letters, Five Questions and a 5 November Deadline

Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat whose office describes him as Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, signed the letters with Tonko of New York and Foushee of North Carolina, as a senator and two members of Congress rather than as a subcommittee. They went to Adam Greenblatt at BetMGM, Tom Reeg at Caesars, Jason Robins at DraftKings, Michael Rubin at Fanatics, Tarek Mansour at Kalshi and Shayne Coplan at Polymarket, and each names a programme: BetMGM Rewards, Caesars Rewards, Dynasty Rewards, Fanatics ONE, Kalshi Platinum and Polymarket's "rebate programs".

The five questions are the same in every letter. The first asks for enrolment numbers, members' average loss or gain over the six months before joining and after, how many who tried to cut back or close their accounts were offered perks instead and kept betting, and the programme's revenue. The others ask for a full list of perks, including any celebrity or athlete videos; the checks made before VIP status is offered, from prior losses and requests to limit play to signs of problem gambling and financial hardship; whether VIP managers are coached to build personal relationships "to encourage more gambling"; and whether AI is used to target gamblers with perks.

The case rests on reporting, not on documents the lawmakers have obtained. The letters cite The Philadelphia Inquirer on the Bryce Harper video FanDuel sent a VIP customer, The New York Times on DraftKings' use of AI, a 2025 Guardian report on VIP hosts messaging bettors up to 100 times a day, and ProPublica's September investigation in which a reporter who deliberately chased losses was invited into DraftKings' VIP programme. They say Kalshi's Platinum programme offers merchandise, events and account managers, and call it "wholly unacceptable" that the industry "profits at the expense of its most vulnerable customers' financial and mental well-being".

From One Operator to Seven

The inquiry began on 10 August with letters to FanDuel and Major League Baseball, then a 3 September letter calling FanDuel's answers misleading and a 6 October demand for the roughly 30 celebrity videos it had sent VIP customers. FanDuel replied on 20 October, according to InGame and Gambling Insider, calling the videos "customer-appreciation gestures", withholding individual wagering histories on privacy grounds, and disclosing a 90-day FanDuel Predicts VIP trial for fewer than 60 customers from 15 September. The lawmakers have not published that reply.

The wider industry has heard from them before: on 11 May they and two other House Democrats wrote to 10 sportsbook and prediction market companies about advertising to 18 to 24 year-olds, according to Foushee's office. That list included bet365, PrizePicks' parent SidePrize and Robinhood, none of which received this week's letters.

A Week of VIP Headlines in Pennsylvania

The letters landed two days after FanDuel withdrew an offer inviting VIP customers and up to three guests to the Philadelphia Zoo's Boo at the Zoo on 24 October, the Inquirer reported. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board had said a benefit to anyone under 21 was something it might ask about, and FanDuel told customers it was cancelling "following guidance from our regulators". State Representative Tarik Khan said he would introduce a bill to ban VIP programmes. In the same week FanDuel's Fast Facts page put its median sportsbook bet at $5, without saying over what period or sample.

The Before-and-After Loss Figure Is the Question That Matters

Most of the questions can be answered with policy descriptions. The average losses before and after enrolment cannot: that is a number, and it would show whether VIP status follows heavy losses or produces them. A $5 median and a VIP programme do not contradict each other, since medians describe the typical customer and VIP schemes exist for the tail. If a small group drives a large share of revenue, that is a structural issue for the regulated sector, not a footnote. No operator has volunteered that split, and FanDuel's handling of individual records suggests the answers will come in aggregate, if at all.

Prediction Markets Are Now Being Asked the Same Questions as Sportsbooks

Putting Kalshi and Polymarket in the same envelope as BetMGM and Caesars is the substantive change. Kalshi has already filed a deposit and trading rewards programme worth up to $5,000 a customer with the CFTC. The Polymarket letter does not say which scheme it means, but Polymarket's documentation describes a taker rebate programme, live since 28 May, paying daily rebates of 3% to 50% across seven tiers set by 30-day weighted volume, with level-up bonuses of up to $25,000 and a tier that falls if trading slows. Exchanges usually defend incentives as liquidity support, and Polymarket pays liquidity providers through a separate maker programme. A scheme that rewards traders who take prices, more as their volume grows, is harder to describe that way.

A Letter Is Not a Rule, but the Rules Are Arriving Elsewhere

Democrats are in the minority in both chambers, and these letters carry no compulsory force. The pressure that binds comes from regulators: New Jersey made 10 problem-gambling triggers mandatory from 19 October, FanDuel dropped the zoo outing within a day, citing guidance from its regulators, and the FTC is reportedly reviewing sportsbook advertising. The letters build a public record those processes can draw on, and every FanDuel reply so far has become public.

The six companies now have the questions FanDuel has been answering since August, on a two-week deadline. Whether any of them supplies the before-and-after loss figures will say more about VIP programmes than the letters themselves.