On October 1, 2024, former Jacksonville Jaguars Executive Amit Patel filed a lawsuit against FanDuel. Patel, a self-proclaimed gambling addict, has sued FanDuel for $250 million dollars for preying on his addition.[2]Patel’s complaint alleges that FanDuel disregarded its own responsible gambling and money laundering protocols. Patel was convicted in 2023 of wire fraud and illegal money transactions and he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.[3] Patel stole $22 million dollars from the Jaguars due to his gambling addiction.[4]
Patel’s complaint alleges that the sports gambling platform “actively and intentionally targeted and preyed” on his addiction by offering him incentives to continue gambling, further feeding into his addiction.[5] Patel also alleges that FanDuel provided him with over on million dollars in credits and gifts, which he claims kept him using the app.[6] Further, in his complaint, Patel claims that incentives and money were not FanDuel’s only forms of gambling abuse. Specifically, he claims that FanDuel continuously contacted him up to 100 times a day to place bets and use the incentives the company offered.[7] While admitting his guilt, Patel argues that even though he is an addicted gambler, FanDuel should take accountability for preying on people’s vulnerabilities. Moreover, in his complaint, Patel alleges FanDuel was aware that some of his transactions were suspicious, but the company allowed him to continue to gamble if he could verify the source of the funds.[8] FanDuel waived this verification request, however, in Patel’s terms, [the] “[d]efendant got around it”, and meaning that Patel owed them big time for allowing him to continue gambling.[9]
Patel’s lawsuit against FanDuel is only a taste of the problems individuals have faced with sports gambling today. In a time where sports gambling is at its peak, Patel’s lawsuit is only the tip of the iceberg. On September 17, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) filed a lawsuit against DraftKings, FanDuel, and other sports betting companies.[10] The foundation of the MLBPA complaint is unauthorized use of MLB players’ name, image, and likeness.[11] The MLBPA alleges that the gambling companies “were not authorized to utilize the names and likenesses of players for their brands.”[12] Players who are suing these sports betting companies, including FanDuel, seek compensation and punitive damages for their “flagrant” violations of state laws that protect players’ name, image, and likeness.[13]
Further, in 2021, FanDuel was sued by Andrew Melnick, who claimed that the sports betting app deceived its users.[14] The class action lawsuit alleged BetFair Interactive US, LLC, doing business as FanDuel, provided inaccurate information to the users on FanDuel’s app.[15] Melnick placed bets mainly on NCAA college basketball, using FanDuel’s alleged false reporting of the game’s statistics as the basis for his actions. Melnick alleges that members of the class “lose money on bets that they would not have made or would have made differently had the defendant’s app reported the information correctly.[16] Is there a cause of action here?
Should sports bettors, who presumably assume the risk of losing their money on bets, be able to sue sports books for preying on their vulnerabilities? This is not unheard of. In 2006, the American Cancer Society and other plaintiffs successfully sued Big Tabacco. Judge Gladys Kessler found Big Tabacco companies liable for lying regarding the deadly effects of smoking and secondhand smoke.[17] If Patel’s lawsuit is successful, his claim will pave the way for other addicts to bring actions against sports betting platforms that have profited from their addictions, like those aggrieved by Big Tobacco.
The concern is that Patel’s lawsuit could open the door to frivolous lawsuits from gamblers, who are not addicted. Should those who have lost money, and are simply seeking recompense, be able to hold sports betting platforms accountable? To what extent does the publication of inaccurate information matter in such cases? How will courts draw the line? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, the lucrative sports betting industry is spending lots of money defending litigation on multiple fronts.
[1] https://sportshandle.com/fanduel-sportsbook/.
[2] Amaos Morale III, Ex-Jaguars employee who stole $22 million from team files lawsuit against FanDuel, The Athletic (Oct. 1, 2024) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5809925/2024/10/01/jaguars-lawsuit-fanduel-amit-patel/.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Chris Dolmetsch, FanDuel Sued by Convicted NFL Executive Over Gabling Habit(1), Bloomberg Law (Oct. 1, 2024) https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/fanduel-sued-by-convicted-nfl-executive-over-gambling-addiction.
[6] Wayne Parry, Ex-Jaguars worker who stole $22M from team sues FanDuel, saying it preyed on his gambling addiction, Associated Press (Oct. 1, 2024) https://apnews.com/article/amit-patel-jaguars-gambling-football-fanduel-lawsuit-0065cc360a4e3a954dad6ac352daf533.
[7] Id.
[8] Morale III, supra note 1.
[9] Id.
[10] Christopher Atwood, Legal Ramifications of MLB Players Lawsuit Against Sports Betting Company, UB Law Sports & Entertainment Forum (Sept. 28, 2024) https://ublawsportsforum.com/2024/09/28/legal-ramifications-of-mlb-players-lawsuit/; Reuters, MLBPA files NIL suit against DraftKings, FanDuel, other sports betting companies, Thomas Reuters (Sept. 16, 2024) https://www.reuters.com/sports/mlbpa-files-nil-suit-against-draftkings-fanduel-other-sports-betting-companies-2024-09-17/#:~:text=DraftKings%20and%20bet365%20are%20being,players%20in%20the%20public%20eye.
[11] Reuters, MLBPA files NIL suit against DraftKings, FanDuel, other sports betting companies, Thomas Reuters (Sept. 16, 2024) https://www.reuters.com/sports/mlbpa-files-nil-suit-against-draftkings-fanduel-other-sports-betting-companies-2024-09-17/#:~:text=DraftKings%20and%20bet365%20are%20being,players%20in%20the%20public%20eye.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Christina Tabacco, Class Action Claims Online Sports Betting App FanDuel Deceived Users, Voelker Litigation Group (Mar. 3, 2021) https://voelkerlitigationgroup.com/category/new-litigation-cases-filed/.
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] Big Tobacco Lawsuit, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, https://www.fightcancer.org/what-we-do/big-tobacco-lawsuit.
Alex Brockhuizen (’25) is pursuing her JD at the University at Buffalo School of Law, with a concentration in Sports Law. After graduation, she will be working at Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC. At UB, Alex is co-director of the Labor and Employment Law Society and Treasurer of the Buffalo Sports Law and Entertainment Law Society. She is also Business Editor of the Buffalo Law Review, where she was deemed a finalist of the Note and Comment Competition her 2L year. Alex is also a former two-sport athlete at Elmira College.
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