The MLBPA has told federal lawmakers it would support a ban on personalized athlete marketing in sportsbook VIP programs. The position follows a controversy over a 21-second video of Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper, recorded through Cameo in 2024 and sent by a FanDuel VIP manager to Terry Thompson, a Pennsylvania customer who lost $1.5 million with the operator and had a gambling addiction. Harper says he did not know the clip would be used that way.
In March the nonprofit Public Health Advocacy Institute sued FanDuel and DraftKings. Court documents say Thompson early this year considered suicide to keep the scale of his losses from his family. Both operators had given him VIP privileges. On 10 August Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representatives Paul D. Tonko and Valerie P. Foushee wrote to MLB, the union and FanDuel demanding action, called the VIP programs predatory and urged MLB and the MLBPA to bar players from any promotional work for sportsbooks.
Union offers a VIP clause in the new CBA
MLBPA general counsel Jeffrey Perconte answered that the union is ready to write a VIP marketing restriction into the collective bargaining agreement now being negotiated with the league. The current deal expires in December and lets players appear in casino and sportsbook advertising as long as they do not urge bets on baseball. Perconte conceded the deal does not cover how VIP programs are run and said the union would close that gap. The MLBPA has also proposed a ban on bets on individual player performance. MLB has so far declined.
FanDuel's reply and the pushback
FanDuel replied that its VIP managers earn a fixed salary not tied to what customers bet. 15 of the 30 MLB clubs have partnership agreements with sportsbooks, and the owners of the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers have invested in the FutureSports platform. Pennsylvania legislators are drafting a bill to curb VIP programs and in-match micro-betting. The Sports Betting Alliance, whose members include FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365 and Fanatics, plans to fight the measure.
