FanDuel Shares Details on Problem Gambling Monitoring With Congress

FanDuel Sportsbook appears to be feeling the heat from federal lawmakers.

Amid growing pressure from Congress, the sports betting giant has shared details on how it detects problem gambling. The company detects these cases using machine learning and risk scoring, which flags accounts for manual review. 

FanDuel monitors factors such as unusual deposits, increased wagering activity, loss-chasing behavior, and interactions with customer service. Those accounts can be subject to limits on spending, overall wagers, and deposits. The operator also reserves the right to exclude high-risk bettors from the platform involuntarily.

According to the operator, it has performed around 58,000 responsible gambling reviews in the last year.

The industry’s top sportsbook has also partnered with Kindbridge Behavioral Services, which it can direct high-risk customers to. This provides another level of help from a trained professional, giving struggling bettors a helping hand.

When it comes to FanDuel’s VIP program, the operator once again claimed that its hosts are trained to spot problem gambling habits. This adds an extra layer of monitoring for the sportsbook’s biggest spenders, helping them get help before compulsive betting gets out of hand. 

Will This Be Enough for Congress?

Over the summer, FanDuel landed in hot water with Congress after it learned the sportsbook was using custom celebrity videos for its VIP program. This raised concerns that FanDuel used them to encourage high-spending customers to place wagers. 

It also raised questions about how the sportsbook monitors for problem gambling, and what it does with the information. Accusations have arisen that the industry targets problem gamblers for promos and bonuses instead of help for their compulsive gambling.

Congress has demanded more transparency from FanDuel over these practices. While the sportsbook attempted to ease their fears by providing some information in August, lawmakers argued it still left many questions unanswered.

FanDuel hopes this new round of information will ease the pressure, or that Congress will continue to push for more.