Sen. Blumenthal puts DraftKings and prediction markets on notice amid FanDuel VIP scrutiny
Sen. Richard Blumenthal intends to ask questions of DraftKings and FanDuel about their prediction market operations, he told Front Office Sports. The Connecticut Democrat earlier demanded specifics about FanDuel's VIP bettor program and said he would extend the same scrutiny to DraftKings and prediction markets. The move puts both traditional sportsbooks and event-contract platforms on notice as Congress examines high-value customer programs, their potential harms, and prediction markets more broadly.
Congressional scrutiny of prediction markets has moved from oversight hearings to named-operator targeting. Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, and Crypto.com already face state suits and federal probes; Blumenthal's addition of FanDuel and DraftKings makes clear that no platform, including sportsbook incumbents, is outside the inquiry scope. The FanDuel VIP investigation is the entry point: Blumenthal is using high-value customer harms as a bridge to prediction market questions.
The timeline matters because House Oversight has already subpoenaed trading records from Hyperliquid and Crypto.com, and the CFTC is probing a former lawmaker's Kalshi bets. Any platform without clean surveillance data becomes the example that shapes legislation. DraftKings and FanDuel must now prep for document requests and public testimony they had not expected this cycle. The first adverse finding will accelerate a unified surveillance regime rather than the current patchwork.