Sen. Richard Blumenthal expanded his inquiry into gambling customer retention to include Kalshi and Polymarket alongside four major sportsbooks. Tom Nightingale reports that October 22 letters went to BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics and the two prediction-market companies, with answers requested by November 5. The questions put personalized promotions and VIP programs under scrutiny across both forms of wagering.
Blumenthal asks how customers qualify for preferred treatment, what their betting activity looked like before enrollment and how much revenue the programs generate. He also asks whether companies use AI to track customers and target them with perks. These requests could connect the marketing system to the spending it produces, rather than treating each promotional offer as an isolated gesture.
One question focuses on customers trying to cut back: were they offered exclusive incentives, and what happened to their activity afterward? That is where a retention program can conflict with a person’s effort to limit losses. The letters also ask about VIP managers and personalized videos from athletes or other celebrities. These are questions under investigation, not findings that every recipient uses these practices.
The inquiry follows a dispute over FanDuel’s use of a Bryce Harper video sent to a customer reportedly carrying more than $1.5 million in losses on the platform. Harper denied knowing about or authorizing FanDuel’s use of the video. FanDuel subsequently acknowledged sending more than two dozen personalized celebrity videos over two years. In an October 20 letter, it called them “customer-appreciation gestures” and denied sending them to provoke continued gambling.
Including prediction markets makes the inquiry broader than state-licensed sports betting. Whatever legal category companies claim for their products, the questions concern how they identify valuable customers and encourage repeat spending. Customers trying to reduce their gambling bear the financial risk if tailored rewards pull them back in. The responses would be needed to establish which companies do what, and with what effect.
SBC Americas is an industry trade publication. Nightingale’s account provides the recipients, deadline and questions; the expanded inquiry has yet to establish its conclusions.