공지 • Mar 25
Public Health Advocacy Institute Files Landmark Product Liability Lawsuit Against DraftKings Inc., FanDuel, Genius Sports and National Football League
Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) 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, FanDuel and Genius Sports Ltd., as well as various divisions and subsidiaries of each company. 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. 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. 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. 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 $16,960 million in 2025. In Pennsylvania, from July 2024 through June 2025, sportsbooks generated nearly $775 million in revenue based on more than $8,700 million in wagers, of which $8,200 million were made online. 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 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.