An Illinois man is suing DraftKings for negligently releasing a defective product which he claims ignited, enabled and encouraged his gambling addiction.
Attorneys filed the suit in federal court late last month on behalf of Dane Miller, a 32-year-old husband and father.
Miller did not have a gambling problem when he opened a DraftKings account in October 2020. By the time he excluded himself from gambling apps in December 2024, he had placed more than $2 million in bets on the platform.
The suit alleges:
Miller’s experience adds to the growing heap of evidence showing DraftKings and other online sportsbooks use exploitative business practices to target problem gamblers.
Miller reportedly joined DraftKings to take advantage of the company’s infamous “no sweat bets” and other sign-on bonuses. The city of Baltimore called these promotions “deceptive” when it sued DraftKings last year for violating consumer protection laws, writing:
These tactics prompt users to place larger and more frequent wagers than they might have initially intended when considering their personal limits on reasonable betting, by implanting the false idea that users are obtaining “free bets” or otherwise taking on substantially less financial risk than they actually are.
Once enrolled in DraftKings, Miller’s sports betting activity increased exponentially. His lawsuit reads:
These are just some of the addictive features Miller argues DraftKings deployed to increase his gambling activity.
DraftKings offers particularly addictive kinds of betting. Users can not only wager on a wide-variety of games but an endless number of “micro-bets” — from the length of the national anthem to whether the next pitch is a ball or a strike.
Betting on sports from a smartphone makes it much easier to gamble to excess. It also allows DraftKings to collect and analyze huge quantities of user data. The company uses this data, per the suit, to create personalized offers and push-notifications designed to get users to place another wager.
Baltimore found evidence of the same practice, revealing DraftKings and another major online sportsbook, FanDuel, evaluate every bettor’s “lifetime value” based on metrics like:
- The frequency and size of their bets.
- The time they spend betting.
- Chasing your losses — betting exponentially higher amounts to recoup money lost.
- The amount of money they deposit and when.
DraftKings also allegedly uses this data to identify problem gamblers, or “high-value users.” as the suit calls them. Vulnerable users like these might:
- Chase their losses.
- Click on self-exclusion pages multiple times but never self-exclude.
- Frequently request to withdraw their winnings, then cancel.
- Increase the amount of time they spend on the platform over several weeks.
DraftKings and its compatriots could use their data analytics to impose limits on vulnerable users, Miller’s lawsuit points out. Instead, it makes them members of its VIP program.
The company assigns VIP members special VIP hosts, who ply them with exclusive credits, deals and perks like tickets to sports games.
DraftKings crowned Miller a VIP in May 2021. The filing reads:
Miller lost more than his wedding money during his destructive spiral. He also took out personal loans and credit cards. He withdrew money from his 401k. In September 2024, he was fired for his “constant sports betting.”
On October 29, 2024, Northwest Community Hospital admitted Miller for suicidal ideation after he wrote a suicide note. He was diagnosed with “severe gambling disorder,” anxiety and depression.
Less than two weeks earlier, DraftKings had given Miller $1,000 in gambling credits.
In 2025, Baltimore’s lawsuit remarked:
If Miller’s lawsuit is to be believed, DraftKings, indeed, broke down his defenses.
Miller’s suit argues DraftKings acted with negligence: It created an addictive product designed to keep people on the platform, then it released it to the public without adequate protection for vulnerable gamblers.
The company could have implemented several cost-effective safety measures, the filing notes, including:
- Limits on deposits and wagers based on a user’s income.
- Limits on particularly addictive forms of betting, like micro-betting.
- Ceasing to generate personalized promotions with user data.
- Shutting down VIP programs.
- Ceasing to market during live games.
DraftKings implemented none of these features. Instead, it allegedly targets problem gamblers to extract their “lifetime value.”
Miller also accuses DraftKings of failure to warn, arguing the platform’s boilerplate cautions against problem gambling do not adequately inform users about the platform’s intentionally addictive design.
“Young consumers do not expect [DraftKings’] product to be psychologically and neurologically addictive when the product is used in its intended manner by its intended audience,” the lawsuit emphasizes, continuing:
Civil suits like Miller buttress convincing evidence that DraftKings, and the online sports betting industry, exploit vulnerable consumers. Governments have consumer protection laws for a reason. Authorities should start enforcing them against gambling companies.
In the meantime, parents should take Dane Miller’s story to heart. Online sports betting is not a harmless pastime. It is a dangerous and addictive product which can devastate families and communities.
The Daily Citizen encourages you to caution your children against gambling the same way you do other addictive products, like drugs, alcohol and pornography.
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