New Jersey Panel Backs Curbs on Ads Aimed at Problem Gamblers After FanDuel Clip

AR150, prompted by the personalised Bryce Harper message sent to a customer who says he lost $1.5m, cleared the Assembly gaming committee unanimously along with a bill that makes self-excluded players watch counselling videos before they can return.

• The New Jersey Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee unanimously approved AR150 on 14 September, a resolution urging restrictions on gambling advertising aimed at people displaying symptoms of problem gambling or addiction, CDC Gaming reports
• It responds to the Philadelphia Inquirer's July report that FanDuel sent a customer who says he lost about $1.5 million a personalised Cameo video from Phillies star Bryce Harper, used as a VIP promotion without the player's knowledge
• Committee chair William Moen, the resolution's author, said the video "was explicitly made clear" to have been prepared "to further entice gambling by this individual"
• The committee also unanimously approved A5210, requiring people on self-exclusion lists to watch educational and counselling videos before removal and permitting third-party exclusion requests in defined circumstances
• The Sports Betting Alliance opposed A5210 but did not testify; the episode has already drawn scrutiny from the Pennsylvania regulator and members of Congress

A Cameo Video Becomes a Resolution

The personalised video that FanDuel sent one of its VIP customers has produced its first legislative response in the largest online casino market in the United States.

The Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee approved AR150 unanimously on 14 September, according to CDC Gaming. The resolution urges the prohibition of gambling advertising targeted at people displaying symptoms of problem gambling or addiction. It was prompted by the Philadelphia Inquirer's report on 9 July that a man who said he had lost around $1.5 million on FanDuel wagers received a personalised video message from Philadelphia Phillies player Bryce Harper, in which Harper named him, acknowledged his son and thanked him for his support.

Harper has said he did not know the video would be used for a FanDuel VIP promotion, that the company added its logo without his knowledge or consent, and that he has no affiliation with the operator. He said someone identified as "Bryttanni" ordered the clip through Cameo in November 2024 as a "holiday video for Terry"; the recipient was identified as Terry Thompson. "It was explicitly made clear that this video was prepared to further entice gambling by this individual," said committee chair William Moen, a Democrat and the resolution's author. "This resolution simply urges the prohibition of this kind of advertising to prevent this type of situation from occurring in the future. This is something that we see as a problem."

Self-Exclusion Gets a Harder Exit

The seven-member committee also unanimously approved A5210, sponsored by Moen, which would require people on New Jersey's self-exclusion lists to watch educational and counselling videos before they can be removed. The New Jersey Racing Commission and the Division of Gaming Enforcement would issue regulations governing the programme. The bill also permits third-party requests to exclude an individual in certain circumstances, including where the third party can show sole or joint financial responsibility for funds that may be used for gambling. The Sports Betting Alliance, the operators' lobby, opposed the bill but did not testify.

The FanDuel video has already travelled beyond New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said in July it was reviewing the matter, and members of Congress told FanDuel earlier this month that its answers about the VIP programme were misleading and incomplete.

A Resolution Has No Force, but It Names the Practice

AR150 is a resolution, not a statute; it urges and does not require, and it goes nowhere near the Division of Gaming Enforcement's rulebook. What it does is put on the record of the state with the largest regulated online casino market that the legislature considers a personalised message from an athlete to an identified heavy loser to be advertising aimed at a person showing signs of addiction, and that such advertising should be prohibited. That framing matters because the industry has defended VIP programmes as hospitality for valued customers rather than marketing, and because the DGE already has powers over advertising content and responsible gambling that it could apply to exactly this case without a new law. A unanimous committee vote is a signal to the regulator about what the legislature expects it to do with those powers, and a signal to operators that the next bill may not be advisory.

The Real Bill Is the One the Operators Opposed

A5210 is the substantive measure, and the Sports Betting Alliance's opposition tells you why. Making self-excluded players sit through counselling before they can come back adds friction to the return of exactly the customers whose spending the VIP model depends on, and third-party exclusion requests from a spouse or co-account holder open a door that operators would rather keep shut. Both are standard features in some European regimes and neither exists in most US states. If New Jersey enacts them, the question for FanDuel and its peers is not this one customer's video but whether the VIP tier as a business can survive rules designed around the people it most profitably serves.

New Jersey's lawmakers have said what they think the Harper video was. The regulator now has a committee's unanimous view of what to do about the next one.