Online Sports Gambling Addiction, Underage Use Lawsuits Against DraftKings, FanDuel

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are looking to file lawsuits against FanDuel and DraftKings on behalf of individuals who were enticed into using the platforms when they were under the age of 18, as well as anyone who was diagnosed with gambling addiction or a related mental health condition as a result of using the online sportsbooks.

Allegations have surfaced that FanDuel and DraftKings have maximized their profits by luring in as many people as possible, including with deceptive “risk free” and “bonus bet” promotions, getting players hooked, and keeping them spending. Lawsuits have even gone so far as to allege the platforms use internal data to intentionally target those likely suffering from a gambling problem, sending them “pings,” notifications and individualized promotions (e.g., “free” bets or other “rewards”) even when it’s clear that betting is causing harm.

Attorneys suspect FanDuel and DraftKings may also be intentionally targeting vulnerable young people with advertisements for their platforms despite research suggesting online sports gambling addiction is becoming a real problem, especially among college students.

People have suffered real financial losses due to online sports betting addiction—in at least one case, nearly a million dollars—and attorneys are now looking to help people get some of their money back, along with compensation for medical bills related to mental health treatment, damage to work, school and/or relationships, and more.

Who’s Eligible to File a DraftKings, FanDuel Lawsuit?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are looking to file online gambling lawsuits on behalf of minors who used FanDuel or DraftKings, adults who started using FanDuel or DraftKings when they were under the age of 18, and those who were diagnosed with certain mental health conditions from their use of DraftKings or FanDuel.  

What’s Involved in Filing a Lawsuit for Gambling Addiction or Underage Use?

If you choose to pursue an underage use or sports gambling addiction lawsuit, you will need to hire an attorney, who will begin building your case by gathering relevant information and documentation from you.

This information may include details about your or your child’s sports betting history and habits, details of its negative impact on your or your child’s life, relevant medical documentation and relevant financial information.

Once your attorney has collected enough information, they will draft a legal document known as a complaint, which names the companies being sued, explains why they’re being sued and outlines the harm suffered by you or the family member on whose behalf you are filing the suit.

The complaint will also include your attorneys’ names and contact details, the damages you are seeking to recover and the court where the document will be filed. Your lawsuit begins when your complaint is officially filed with the court.

During your case, your attorney and the attorneys for the defendants (meaning the companies being sued) will go back and forth in an attempt to resolve the case.

If your case does not settle, but is not dismissed or otherwise resolved, it will proceed to a jury trial. However, it is important to note that courtroom trials are rare in civil cases such as this.

What Would My Online Sports Gambling Lawsuit Allege?

The allegations in your lawsuit will depend on the facts of your case, including what your experience was like and the harm you suffered—but in general, your case will likely claim that DraftKings or FanDuel (or both) is responsible for the damage caused by your use of their platform.

For instance, a gambling addiction lawsuit may allege that DraftKings’ or FanDuel’s actions led to physical harm, including developing an addiction that caused the person to increasingly gamble and even led to withdrawal symptoms upon attempts to stop. The lawsuit may also allege that the defendants knew about and failed to warn users of the serious risks of gambling addiction and take steps to prevent them from developing an addiction.

Lawsuits filed on behalf of users who were underage when they began using DraftKings or FanDuel may allege that the companies groomed them for addiction by exposing them to fantasy contests before they were old enough to gamble legally. Cases may also claim that the defendants intentionally marketed their platforms to underage users with targeted advertising, leading to an increase in gambling addictions among young users.

Furthermore, a lawsuit could claim that the platforms failed to clearly explain the terms of promotional offers, misled users about their chances of winning, or understated or failed to disclose the risk of loss.

Is This a Class Action Lawsuit for Online Sports Betting?

No, attorneys working with ClassAction.org are not currently handling underage use and gambling addiction lawsuits as a class action. Instead, they are looking to file individual cases on behalf of those who have suffered the effects of a gambling addiction or underage gambling through the use of FanDuel or DraftKings, as they believe the harm caused in these situations is severe enough to warrant individual actions.

Typically, class action lawsuits are filed on behalf of a large group of individuals seeking compensation for comparatively smaller harms, such as purchasing a falsely advertised product or paying unlawful fees on online orders. These kinds of cases tend to only be financially viable if the relatively small individual losses (e.g., being charged an illegal fee of less than $10) are recovered all at once on behalf of the hundreds, thousands or sometimes millions of affected consumers.

Lawsuits filed over underage gambling or gambling addiction will seek to recover money for more serious and costly losses, such as mental harm, medical bills, gambling losses and more, which justify the cost of individual litigation.

This doesn’t mean, however, that FanDuel and DraftKings are immune to class action lawsuits. Indeed, the online sports betting platforms faced numerous class actions in the past, and you can find more information on these cases below.   

FanDuel Lawsuits

FanDuel has been hit with a number of proposed class action lawsuits, even just in the past few years, over allegations ranging from false advertising and underhanded business practices to illegally operating in states where gambling is prohibited.

One such lawsuit claims FanDuel advertises that users can “withdraw deposits and/or winnings at any time for any reason,” but then, in practice, does not allow withdrawals unless the user first puts the money at risk in a bet or the withdrawal is part of an “eligible promotion.” As such, the lawsuit alleges that FanDuel illegally withholds users’ money as a frequent and regular business practice.

Another lawsuit claims that FanDuel intentionally misrepresents how much time is left in a sports event, rather than displaying accurate, real-time score and time updates as it purports to do, as a strategy to induce users to place riskier bets. The complaint alleges that this misrepresentation makes the odds of certain bets seem significantly more or less favorable than they actually are, depriving bettors of the full ability to accurately and holistically assess the risk and reward of a wager. This FanDuel lawsuit was eventually dismissed in September 2021 after the judge found that the platform’s terms of use expressly disclaim any obligation to provide “accurate real-time information.”

Additionally, a lawsuit filed in December 2025 claims that FanDuel illegally operates its daily fantasy sports contests in California, despite the state’s strict anti-gambling laws. Per the suit, FanDuel routinely markets its product through TV, social media and other advertisements shown to California consumers, tricking them into thinking its product is legal to use in their state and allowing FanDuel to claim a share of the money they spend.

Looking for online casino class action lawsuits? Check out our social casino and gambling app mass arbitration page for more information.

DraftKings Lawsuits

Several lawsuits have also been filed against DraftKings in recent years.

Two different lawsuits, one filed in Massachusetts in 2023 and one filed in New Jersey in 2025, allege that DraftKings falsely or deceptively promised bonuses and “risk-free” first bets to new users—many of whom, one complaint claims, are young men who were “intentionally target[ed]” by the company’s ads for their potential vulnerability to developing a gambling addiction. The lawsuits allege that DraftKings deliberately designed its interface to prevent users from understanding the costly fine print attached to those bonus and “risk-free” claims, leading to new users depositing, gambling and almost inevitably losing large sums of their own money.

Another lawsuit was filed against DraftKings after its 2019 Sports Betting National Championship (SBNC), claiming that the company did not abide by clear or consistent rules and standards for accepting and rejecting bets made during the competition. For instance, the complaint alleges that some participants’ bets were capriciously rejected without explanation or took longer to be accepted or rejected compared to similar counterparts.

The company was also hit with a suit over its cancellation of bets on the October 24, 2023 NBA Lakers-Nuggets game. The complaint claimed that, while there was an error with the bets, the fact that DraftKings allowed them to go through and waited until a day after the game to cancel the bets is unfair and underhanded, as it was the company’s job to regulate the bets placed and cancel them as soon as the error was spotted. The lawsuit argues that the canceled winning bets from that game should therefore still be paid out.

A somewhat similar 2021 DraftKings lawsuit alleged that the company incorrectly marked winning bets as losses, then refused to correct the errors and pay out the appropriate amounts to the winners.

Additionally, in 2025, a lawsuit was filed against DraftKings claiming that it falsely promoted its daily fantasy sports contests as legal in California, allegedly violating multiple state anti-gambling and consumer protection laws.

How Much Does a Sports Gambling Addiction Lawyer Cost?

The lawyers working with ClassAction.org are currently handling underage use and gambling addiction lawsuits on a contingency-fee basis. This means they will only get paid if they win your suit, in which case, they will collect a percentage of your gambling addiction settlement or jury award as payment.

Sports Gambling Lawsuit Payout: What Can I Expect?

Unfortunately, only an attorney can provide insight into how much your case could be worth. While there are no guarantees, some lawyers estimate that, if successful, gambling addiction lawsuit payouts could be anywhere from $15,000 to $300,000 or more depending on the specifics of the individual’s case, including how much money they’ve lost, what medical treatment was needed, and how online sports betting addiction or underage gambling affected their ability to work, perform in school and maintain relationships.  

Gambling Addiction Symptoms

Gambling addiction, also known as gambling disorder, problem gambling or compulsive gambling, refers to “a pattern of repeated and ongoing betting and wagering that continues despite creating multiple problems in several areas of an individual’s life,” according to the American Psychiatric Association.

While addiction is commonly thought of as a physical dependence on a chemical substance, it should be noted that gambling disorder is clinically diagnosable and now classified in the same section of the DSM-5 (a professional reference book used by clinicians to diagnose mental health conditions) as drug and alcohol use disorders.

Is Online Sports Gambling Legal?

In short, it depends on the state you’re in. The sports betting legal landscape changed dramatically in 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on sports betting. The decision opened the door for each state to determine whether to legalize sports gambling within its borders, and nearly every state has introduced a sports betting legalization bill at some point since then.

According to the American Gaming Association, 31 states and Washington, D.C. currently allow online sports betting, though the restrictions in each state vary. Additionally, Montana allows online sports betting only when physically present at certain authorized locations, and Washington permits online sports gambling only on tribal lands.

States where online sports betting is illegal currently include Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

Some lawsuits have alleged that sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel have attempted to skirt state gambling regulations by offering daily fantasy sports contests, which they maintain are distinct from online sports betting. The lawsuits claim, however, that these platforms’ daily fantasy sports offerings are essentially gambling in disguise and are operating illegally in states like California where online sports betting is prohibited.

Relatedly, the rise of prediction markets has also been a subject of some controversy in the sports betting legal landscape. Prediction markets are platforms that allow users to bet on the outcome of virtually any kind of event—including elections, weather events, military actions and, critically, sports—by buying what are known as “contracts.” A lawsuit filed against Kalshi, a leader in the prediction market industry, claims the platform has violated state gambling regulations by offering contracts for sports events, which the suit says are essentially bets. In fact, the company allegedly boasts in one of its ads that users “can legally bet on NFL [sic] in all 50 states using Kalshi.” Concerningly, the lawsuit also claims that Kalshi focuses on marketing to a young demographic—who, absent any safeguards or regulations, may be particularly vulnerable to the risks of gambling addiction.

Online Sports Betting Addiction, Underage Use: Take Action

Did you or a family member suffer from DraftKings or FanDuel addiction? Did you or your child start using either platform while under the age of 18? If so, you have rights—and may be able to file a lawsuit against DraftKings or FanDuel for online gambling addiction or underage use. Fill out the form on this page to get in touch and to learn more. It doesn’t cost anything, and you’re not obligated to take legal action after speaking to someone. 

Before commenting, please review our comment policy.