Overview
- A New York Times investigation published Monday, September 21, 2026, reports that former employees and internal memos show DraftKings tested a machine‑learning model to score users by how likely they were to respond to promotions.
- The model produced an “elasticity” score that flagged customers who were most likely to increase play when given promos and directed heavier offers at those users, with internal notes saying successful users should be given more incentives.
- Employees who built separate predictive tools to spot customers at risk of gambling harm say those projects were canceled or shelved and a planned early‑2025 presentation on a crisis‑prediction model was called off.
- DraftKings rejects the narrative that it improperly targets customers and says promotions go to users who show sustained engagement; reporting also notes the company gave roughly $3 billion in promotions against about $8.7 billion in revenue last year.
- Reporting about FanDuel and former employees' accounts widens concern that data‑driven re‑engagement tactics are industry‑wide and could prompt more public and regulatory scrutiny focused on promotions, responsible‑gaming tools, and user safety.