Baltimore City Files Lawsuit Against FanDuel and DraftKings, Alleges Predatory Business Practices

Posted on: April 3, 2025, 02:42h. 

Last updated on: April 3, 2025, 02:43h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

• Baltimore has sued FanDuel and DraftKings
• The city’s complaint alleges unfair business practices
• The sportsbooks have not yet responded to the litigation

The City of Baltimore has brought a lawsuit in Baltimore City’s Circuit Court alleging that two leading sportsbooks operating in Maryland have engaged in deceptive and unfair business practices.

DiCello Levitt LLP, a law firm based in Washington, D.C., and the Baltimore City Department of Law are representing Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) and the Baltimore City Council in their claims that FanDuel and DraftKings have violated the city’s Consumer Protection Ordinance. The city’s complaint contends that the sportsbook companies “use a two-pronged scheme to harm Baltimoreans.”

First, they use misleading promotions such as so-called ‘bonus bets’ and other tricks to attract new users, designing those promotions to encourage compulsive gambling behavior. Second, they leverage the vast array of data they have about their users, along with sophisticated analytics and personalized inducements, to identify those who suffer from a gambling disorder, and then extract what they can from them,” DiCello Levitt attorneys Adam Levitt, Dan Ferri, and Dan Schwartz wrote in a release on the litigation.

Along with its online book, FanDuel runs the sportsbook at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland in Hanover. DraftKings has no physical presence in Maryland.

Both sportsbooks have not commented publicly on the Baltimore lawsuit.

Predatory Claims

Baltimore City’s complaint levies a series of allegations against the two platforms that control almost three-fourths of the legal sports betting market in the United States. While Maryland is home to dozens of sports betting locations and online wagering sites, Charm City officials only took issue with DraftKings and FanDuel.

The complaint details how the two sportsbooks allegedly target vulnerable players by flooding them with rewards and bonus bets meant to induce continued participation.

“DraftKings and FanDuel put corporate greed ahead of the well-being of Baltimoreans, getting users hooked to their gambling platforms and then leveraging troves of data to identify, target, and exploit the most vulnerable among them,” said City Solicitor Ebony Thompson with the Baltimore City Department of Law. “Their predatory practices have caused significant harm to our community, and we are taking action to hold them accountable and protect our citizens.”

Damages Sought 

The 51-page complaint seeks a jury trial and a series of relief, including the awarding of the maximum amount of statutory penalties for each violation of the Baltimore CPO and injunctive relief mandating that FanDuel and DraftKings cease targeting and exploiting problem bettors.

The lawsuit also seeks to require the two online sportsbooks to “reform their platforms’ exploitative” nature. Levitt, a founding partner of the law firm bearing his name, says the predatory problem, of course, isn’t limited to Baltimore.

The predatory practices of sports betting sites are a national problem, and the City of Baltimore is taking a lead role in efforts to curtail them,” Levitt added. “You can bet we will bring the fight.”

DiCello Levitt is also representing Baltimore in its legal fight to hold those responsible for the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in March 2024.