Former DraftKings employees detail how it uses ML to target likely losers with promotions, while efforts to flag problem gamblers were shelved or squashed
About a year into his job as a data analyst at DraftKings, Jayden Butts received a new assignment.
New York Times
Context & Ripple Effects
DraftKings' data practices have drawn official attention before: New York's attorney general sought internal information on fraud controls in 2015, amid a broader challenge to the company and FanDuel's operations. That history makes former employees' account of promotion models and sidelined harm-detection work a governance issue, not merely a product-design dispute.
The company built its early scale through aggressive advertising and sponsorship commitments, while DraftKings and FanDuel also adopted employee-play restrictions after integrity concerns surfaced in 2015. The reported use of machine learning adds individualized targeting to a business already shaped by questions over betting protections.
First-order effects
DraftKings faces intensified scrutiny of whether its promotional targeting and internal responsible-gambling processes are aligned, after former employees said models identified likely losing bettors while problem-gambling identification efforts were shelved or suppressed.
Bettors receiving incentives are the immediate affected group: promotions can be allocated using predicted loss behavior rather than solely broad acquisition or engagement criteria.
Second-order effects
Rival betting operators using personalized incentives face pressure to document how their models distinguish commercial targeting from player-protection obligations, particularly where the same behavioral data can serve both purposes.
State regulators evaluating gambling safeguards gain a concrete reason to examine promotion-governance records, model objectives, and escalation procedures alongside conventional fraud controls.
Third-order effects
If operators continue to apply predictive models to incentives without equally durable harm-prevention controls, responsible-gambling policy will increasingly turn from generic disclosures toward auditable limits on data-driven personalization.
The central industry governance question becomes whether customer-value models and risk-of-harm models can be independently owned, tested, and acted on when their commercial signals conflict.
The trend: Online gambling is moving toward individualized, model-driven customer management, making the governance of promotion algorithms a consumer-protection issue.
It's funny how different companies refer to customers. Restauraunts: “Diners.” Theme parks: “Guests.” DraftKings: “Losers.” [embedded post]
r/billsimmons
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Draft Kings uses AI to target bettors most likely to lose
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Hey Dan, did ya hear?
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How DraftKings Uses A.I. to Target the Gamblers Likeliest to Lose
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How DraftKings Uses A.I. to Target the Gamblers Likeliest to Lose
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How DraftKings Uses A.I. to Target the Gamblers Likeliest to Lose • Data science helps determine who receives betting incentives …
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How DraftKings Uses A.I. to Target the Gamblers Likeliest to Lose
@harrymccracken.com
Harry McCracken on bluesky
Whether this should be legal or not, it certainly sounds predatory by its very nature. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/ business/draftkings-ai.html?unlocked_ article_code=1.CVE.9v0l.IfNa4oho1eM4 & smid=bs-share
@matty_laroo
Matt Laroo on x
Lmao, the author of this @nytimes piece (@alexklavens) reached out to me for comment back in March, I declined. To the shock of no one, the article is sensationalized and completely non-sensical if rewritten for literally any other business.
@tedfrank
@tedfrank on x
People have known for years that gambling sites were figuring out which gamblers were likely to win and then banning them or capping their betting activity. Why are people surprised at the other side of the coin?
@dustingouker
Dustin Gouker on x
If you are wondering how that DraftKings NYT story is playing out in the world, have had five people outside the gambling industry send it to me so far, which doesn't usually happen.
@alexklavens
Alex Klavens on x
DraftKings monitors betting data for some signs of problem gambling, but we learned that it sidelined multiple attempts to use data science to help gamblers headed for trouble, including an effort to create “risk scores” that would predict impending crises.
@billsperos
Bill Speros on x
Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chair Jordan Maynard raised the issue of AI being used by betting operators last year.
@alexklavens
Alex Klavens on x
DraftKings has honed techniques for targeting losing gamblers with promotions that encourage them to keep betting. Several people who built those systems told us they regret the work and view the technology as dangerous. Many gamblers told us promotions fueled their addictions.
@alexklavens
Alex Klavens on x
We asked 40+ former DraftKings employees: what is the company doing with customer data, and what does that mean for people with addictions? As one put it: “It's as predatory as it sounds.” From me, @waltbogdanich and @JennyVrentas https://www.nytimes.com/...
@leehepner
Lee Hepner on x
This is surveillance pricing and was alluded to in the FTC's interim findings under Lina Khan. https://www.ftc.gov/...
@halfkelly
@halfkelly on x
Robins is an ex Vista Print ex Capital One marketer. It would probably be bigger news if this model didn't exist. The company is at its core a marketing company.
@boxnpitconfirm
Bri on x
@nytimes They know when you get paid so they can push “deals”. I miss the time when this shit was illegal, it's killing people.
@leahlibresco
Leah Libresco Sargeant on x
This is what casinos have done for a long time, comping drinks when a loser looks like he might stand up and leave Now the casino follows you home in your pocket
@haralabob
Haralabos Voulgaris on x
Shameful.
@michaelkruse
Michael Kruse on bluesky
“I would get flooded with bonuses and deposits. If you are in addiction, you are not going to say no.”
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How DraftKings Uses A.I. to Target the Gamblers Likeliest to Lose
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Believe it or not, DKNG calls...
@donmoyn
Don Moynihan on bluesky
The difference between, say, the opioid epidemic and shoving gambling apps in front of everyone is that no-one has plausible deniability about the effects of gambling. It will absolutely ruin lives and families. They may as well be promoting cigarettes. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/…