PUBLIC HEALTH ADVOCACY INSTITUTE (PHAI) FILES LANDMARK SPORTS GAMBLING LAWSUIT AGAINST DRAFTKINGS, FANDUEL, GENIUS SPORTS AND THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (NFL)
Philadelphia lawsuit alleges defendants develop, distribute and profit from an unreasonably dangerous product designed to maximize betting behavior that leads to addiction; the NFL, named as a defendant, is among the largest shareholders of Genius Sports, which powers more than 98% of the sports betting market with officially-licensed NFL data.
BOSTON, March 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) today announced the filing of a landmark product liability lawsuit against a series of defendants engaged in the development and distribution of what the lawsuit alleges are unreasonably dangerous products: online sports betting platforms that relentlessly push addictive live in-game microbets.
The complaint alleges the defendants use sophisticated digital technology and software—including artificial intelligence and machine learning—to create addicted gamblers and encourage them to make more of the microbets that have come to dominate both the sports world and the lives of the many millions of Americans addicted to online gambling.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are two Pennsylvania residents, Christopher Sage and Terry Thompson, both of whom signed up to bet through the DraftKings and FanDuel sportsbook apps. Defendants in the lawsuit include DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG), FanDuel ((owned by Flutter Entertainment plc, NASDAQ:FLUT) and Genius Sports Ltd. (NYSE:GENI), as well as various divisions and subsidiaries of each company.
Significantly, the defendants also include the National Football League (NFL) and its affiliates. The complaint details how the NFL not only licenses player and game data to Genius Sports, but was also the largest shareholder in the company from 2021 to 2025, and remains the second-largest shareholder to this day. Genius Sports supplies online sportsbooks, including DraftKings and FanDuel, with officially licensed data and statistics from professional sports leagues needed to support online sports gambling, and is the sole supplier of the NFL's live data and statistics. Thus, Genius Sports and the NFL are among the main players profiting from increased microbetting during sporting events.
The complaint alleges that the defendants lured plaintiffs Sage and Thompson into making more and more microbets on the DraftKings and FanDuel platforms. In addition to constant "push" notifications that promoted microbets, DraftKings and FanDuel also assigned each man a personal "VIP Host" who communicated with plaintiffs personally on their mobile phones and enticed them with promotional offers, trips to sporting events and other gifts. The personal contact and enticements continued even after at least one of the plaintiffs indicated that they no longer wanted to participate in online betting on the DraftKings platform.
The plaintiffs are suing under the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, as well as for design defects, a failure to warn the public as to the unreasonably dangerous nature of the products, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other legal theories.
PHAI Litigation Director Andrew Rainer said: "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. 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."
The NFL, as a Major Shareholder in Genius Sports, Profits from the Increased Online Betting that Leads to Addiction
The lawsuit alleges the NFL is unique among sports leagues in that it not only earns money through advertising, sponsorships and licensing deals with sportsbooks, but it is also an owner of a main player in the gambling ecosystem—a company that profits the more people lose money through gambling and that receives a premium commission on each microbet. Through a series of licensing deals between Genius Sports and the NFL, the NFL received not just cash but what the complaint calls "a sizable equity stake" in the company. The NFL was Genius Sports' largest shareholder from 2021 to 2025, and remains the second-largest shareholder today.
Genius Sports is the largest official data and technology company powering the sports gambling industry, and the exclusive supplier of the NFL's game and player data and statistics. According to the NFL's own website, Genius Sports "powers over 98% of the legalized U.S. sports betting market with official NFL data, driving innovations such as player props, micro-betting, same-game parlays and personalized data-driven advertising content."
Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director at PHAI, said: "These defendants, including the NFL, are engaging in a coordinated effort to convert ordinary sports fans into nonstop gamblers. By coordinating their use of immersive marketing, AI, cloud computing and algorithms customized for every customer, they hijack customers' brains and cause catastrophic harm to lifelong fans like Mr. Sage and Mr. Thompson."
Gambling Classified as an Addiction Similar to Heroin, Cocaine and Tobacco
As detailed in the complaint, gambling is a recognized addiction. The current edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) and the World Health Organization (WHO) treat addiction to gambling in the same diagnostic category as addiction to heroin, cocaine and tobacco.
In 2018, the United States Supreme Court held in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, 584 U.S. 453 (2018), that states could pass laws legalizing gambling. In the years since, sports-related gambling has exploded, from $430 million in 2018 to a record $16.96 billion in 2025. In Pennsylvania, from July 2024 through June 2025, sportsbooks generated nearly $775 million in revenue based on more than $8.7 billion in wagers, of which $8.2 billion were made online.
About The Public Health Advocacy Institute
As a nonprofit legal research center focused on public health law, PHAI is uniquely suited to bring this lawsuit. PHAI was founded and is led by Dr. Richard Daynard, whose pioneering work on tobacco product liability litigation in the 1990s led to multibillion-dollar settlements with companies who had evaded liability for selling dangerous tobacco products for decades. In 2014, PHAI formed the Center for Public Health Litigation, a nonprofit law firm, which uses the civil justice system to improve public health by focusing on litigation targeting tobacco industry products, unhealthy foods, deceptive health marketing and deceptive gambling practices.
PHAI is currently involved in litigation with DraftKings over the alleged unfair and deceptive marketing of gambling products that offer purported "cash bonuses" for opening an online sportsbook account. In February 2026, a Massachusetts judge rejected most of DraftKings' Motion for Summary Judgment (MSJ) in the case, which will allow it to proceed toward class certification, class-wide discovery, and trial.
The case is Sage and Thompson v. DraftKings, Inc. et al. (No. 260303384), Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.
The complaint can be found on the PHAI website here. For more information on PHAI and its work, visit phai.org.
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SOURCE Public Health Advocacy Institute
