Congress asks MLB to take action after Bryce Harper betting video: "This is a failure"

Three Congress members sent a letter to Major League Baseball and its players' association Monday to prohibit promotional deals with betting operators after Phillies star Bryce Harper was featured in a video for a FanDuel VIP reward customer. 

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Valerie Foushee (D-NC) sent the letter to MLB, the MLBPA and FanDuel to take action after the video of Harper.

"We write to demand an end to the MLB and MLBPA policies that enabled this type of predatory promotion," part of the letter says. 

In July, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a fan named Terry Thompson had wagered $18.5 million with FanDuel and was eventually rewarded with a personalized video from Harper.

In the video, Harper addressed the fan by name and even mentioned the man's young son. On his Instagram account, Harper shared a screenshot of the request on Cameo, an app that allows users to pay celebrities to record custom videos. FanDuel obtained the video through a partnership with Cameo.

"Had I known FanDuel's true intent, I would not have made the video," Harper said in July. "The same is true had I known anything about Terry or his situation, or about any alleged 'partnership' between Cameo and FanDuel."

The Inquirer reported Thompson lost $1.5 million, according to a lawsuit the Public Health Advocacy Institute filed in March in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia on behalf of Thompson and against FanDuel and DraftKings. Thompson also was reported to have lost money to DraftKings.

"Mr. Harper has stated he was unaware of the true purpose of the video and would not have participated had he known," part of the letter reads. "This incident however, raises broader concerns that players are not prohibited from such endorsements and highlights a systemic failure rooted in the deep enmeshment between leagues, teams, and sports books. In fact, MLB rules currently allow players to enter endorsement deals with sportsbooks so long as they do not encourage betting on baseball. 

"Partnerships that do not violate this rule can even use personalized content from players to drive vulnerable fans into debt and addiction. This is a failure that Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) must confront directly, especially as both are in the midst of renegotiating their collective bargaining agreement."

The letter ends with five questions and requests the MLB and MLBPA to provide answers no later than Aug. 24.