Baltimore filed suit Thursday against DraftKings and FanDuel, accusing the leading sports betting sites of exploiting the vulnerabilities of people likely to have gambling disorders through the lure of lucrative bonuses and other means.

“First, Defendants get Baltimoreans in the door with the promise of ‘bonus bets,’ or other similarly named promotions, designed to induce Baltimoreans to bet,” said the suit filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court by City Solicitor Ebony Thompson on behalf of Mayor Brandon Scott and the Baltimore City Council. The bonuses are often loaded with fine print containing “complex terms and conditions,” the suit said.

The sportsbooks’ goal is to use inducements to drive people to the site. “Some get hooked, and that’s the point,” the suit said.

“DraftKings and FanDuel put corporate greed ahead of the well-being of Baltimoreans, getting users hooked to their gambling platforms and then leveraging troves of data to identify, target, and exploit the most vulnerable among them,” Thompson said.

City Council President Zeke Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit.

Citing company policy, a FanDuel representative declined to comment on the suit. DraftKings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Maryland has 11 licensed online sportsbooks, of which FanDuel and DraftKings have “consistently led the pack,” according to the suit. Bettors wagered $278.5 million on FanDuel and $178.9 million on DraftKings in January 2025, the suit said.

As the industry booms in the state, problem gambling is growing too, especially among 18- to 24-year-old men who grew up loving sports — and their phones — and can’t restrain their mobile sports betting impulses, experts told The Baltimore Sun for a previous article cited in the suit.

Curbing addictive gambling, which experts say can lead to overwhelming debt and suicidal behavior, is critical in Maryland because the state is considering broadly expanding gambling options by allowing traditional casino games — such as blackjack, poker, slots and roulette — to be played online.

Maryland regulators have occasionally reined in sportsbooks’ procedures.

For example, in 2023 the state rejected sportsbooks’ request to roll back rules intended to safeguard bettors from misleading promotional offers, according to documents obtained by The Sun at the time in a public records request.

Specifically, the companies asked Maryland to lift a regulation that requires them to submit a description of any promotional offer, along with its terms and conditions, to gambling regulators for inspection at least two days before putting it into effect.

The operators suggested instead that they only be required to tell the state about a promotion within five business days of launching it, meaning there would have been no notice or time for advance review.

The suit seeks unspecified statutory penalties and an injunction “mandating that Defendants cease the targeting and exploitation of disordered gamblers” and that they reform “exploitative” features of their platforms.

Carson Swick contributed to this report. Have a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com.