1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Did DraftKings Skirt Ethical Lines to Target Return Customers?: September 23rd, 1:00pm

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

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We'll get to the text line because we want to go through it. And again, the discussion was based on the reports that Draft King is using AI to identify problem gamblers and get them hooked. Now, here's the thing, and I'll go further into the story, because it's necessary in order to have the conversation. It says, instead of, instead, it says it's best known for sports betting, but it built an AI model, which was to determine which customers are more likely to gamble and lose the most money, and lose the most money.

some of who helped build the machining the algorithm for who's betting, who's bad at it, but how to entice them to give you more of money that they do not have or cannot risk. One of the analysts went for this is we were looking for traits and features that we can target that indicate a good investment. So we're going to give you some money, but there's a return on investment. The return on investment is always greater. And he said, what we figured out is that in order to bring users back to the fold, we would bombard them with promotions that promised free bets,

a deposit bonus, or a profit boost. Blasting these promotions out randomly isn't normally a smart strategy unless you know the people are good at betting. So the biggest gambling addicts fall for those offers hook, line, and sinker. It is as predatory as it sounds. If you lose more, we give you more, so we keep you playing more. Oh, man. They built this model starting in mid-20203.

The driving question behind it was whether this person is going to give us more than we're giving them. And the answer is in floodgate level, yes. The level of surveillance, ethics aside, is impressive. Documents showed the draft teams analyze how frequently gamblers play. their daily account balances, and compared how much they lost compared to how much they bet. It also used another model of predicting how likely a customer's was to stop gambling. One employee said he worked on a system that identified customers

who were at risk of quitting the platform, and they tried to bring them back. The trobe of data could also be put into more ethical means, finding problem gamblers or intervening, but that's like a promiscuous agent telling you just to go home. home. It's not what they do. That's not how they're built. That's not their way. So in that, again, for those that do, we're just having the conversation. I've been clear and profoundly loud about the fact that in my time in sports,

in my 40 plus years in sports that I have learned that you have no control and no idea, real idea of what's going to happen. I know this. having been around pro sports teams, college sports teams, high school athletes who got in trouble because they were betting and couldn't figure out why they weren't winning. Coach, it was a sure bet. Coach, it was a sure thing. Coach, how could they lose?

Coach, how could I lose? Coach, I'm smarter than this. No. No. It's the thing that happens. I explain that in the UFC, when I go on the road to these things, Friday morning is an interesting day because a lot of these way-ins block. So there's a private, the official ceremony, way in, which is Friday morning.

And it's usually in a hotel or a conference room or something. It's the floor of a hotel where it's sectioned off. You can't get there. You have to be a VIP to get on that floor and be around the fighters and around that. area. And you go to those spaces and I tend to say that you find out a lot. Like you see weight cut problems. You see bickering and battles between coaches and athletes, athletes, associates and other athletes associates, you see what's going on behind the scenes. You're fully behind the curtain. And often I find myself like I would only communicate with people who were in that

level of the business about what I saw. I would never post, hey, so-and-so had a really bad weight cut or is involved in some things, there's some drama. Never once. I wouldn't do it, but that's part of the trust-ish factor that they recognize, the UFC recognizes that I wasn't using it for advantage. I'm not a better, right? I can do the polygraph test and do all that.

I'm not providing data. I'm not doing any of that. But in the lobby of those hotels, there is. a whole other environment and culture. It is a whole other vacuum of human going on in the lobby of the hotel. Why? Because those people want all the information. They want all the information that is going on upstairs.

They want to see the fighters when they come downstairs, before they go upstairs and then as they come down. How was the weight cut? Did they make weight? Are they getting along? Are they happy? What's the mood? What's the vibe?

and often those people have bags of cash for information. And I stay as far away from them as possible. The same stories could be told about the NFL. You go into an NFL city and the team hotel and all of the security that exists now. Do you know that the team hotels have cybersecurity now, Mark? that on the bandwidth and on the Wi-Fi, they have tracking. You have to designate how much bandwidth will be consumed,

and they track it. And if there's a spike, they have to let people know, or at least be aware. To the point that some hotel, some team hotels in America, Bach, they do not allow you to sign on to those websites on their Wi-Fi.

that's where we are with this. There are some high schools in America that do not allow you for your app on your phone, on their Wi-Fi, to go to those apps. That's where we are. That every digital transaction leaves a footprint, man. It leaves a fingerprint, and they can tell you. All of this.

And those are the people who are at the top side of these betting apps and of betting. but bach do you know anybody that's in those situations these are people sitting at home on a Saturday night minding their own business and you're going to go give money on Sunday morning just because not knowing any of what the people in the buildings know not what any of the security people know not knowing what the people on the teams will know and somehow there are people who think that they know more than those people oh boy I mean I think the bears are a pretty good example.

Week 1, 59 points. Week 2, you didn't know the quarterback was injured. They scored three points. What do you know? What you don't know. You don't know. Bigby says, so you're describing insider trading people looking for an edge before they place a bet.

That's all of betting. Every kind of gambling. And the people that we know don't have the information. we don't have nearly the information is the entire. Stock traders. You think they know what the CEOs know? Jeez.

Well, that's why there are rules for that and laws for that. Comster says no big is a great app. I'm glad. I'm a Sydney-Sweeney fan. Good for you, ma'er. Miss me. Miss me with it. They just told you it's predatory.

Bach, in your opinion, opinion, is there any betting app that is not predatory that does not have the advantage over the people betting? It doesn't. I will. I can stick up from them for a second here because it was also the company, Draft Kings responded that these promotions are directed toward customers who demonstrate sustained engaged use of our platform, not toward customers based on their own losses. I guess, you know, and that's obviously that's from them. But what they're doing is targeting people who will, like what business isn't looking to get returned customers that give them the most money? That's kind of business.

But then you're being a predatory business rather than a good faith business. Well, I mean, promotions are, you could look at it as predatory, but they're just trying to get you drawn in. I mean, that's what promotions do. Alert you. I mean, right? I don't know, should draft kings look to go get new? I mean, they also want to get new people, but who would turn down your best customer,

your loyal customers? That's who you want to go after. That's who gives you the money. That sounds like a dope dealer to me. Sounds like business to me. Bach? Be careful by the villain status. To say that, well, quite frankly, I'm going to offer this chemical to somebody because I want

them addicted to the chemical. And I'm going to keep approaching because the more business I do, That's how this is, that thinking is how drugs get to elementary schools. More business is better business. It's not. It's not good for, it's not good for everybody. Not everybody's on the same playing field. It's not the same advantage.

Can't make the same decisions. Well, certainly ethical business has a place, but it's not, business isn't a place where the winners are always determined by ethic. Right. But it does, to your point, I mean, that doesn't, that can lead, down some dark path. Making decisions based on knowing that this is predatory and this ain't good for me.

People saying it because the story is that people don't know that they don't have a chance to win. It's not set up for them to win. There's something to know and don't care. Do most teenagers know that they're not going to win in Vegas? How many teenagers you know stand a fair and balanced an equitable chance to beat Vegas. Just like the rest of the population, not many.

There it is. And the adults in the room could turn their head and go, ah, it's just petty. It's just business. But the ethical side of it, it's a different statement. And draft kings literally told you, we were predators, man.

We went and found weak people and took advantage of it. Again, that's former employees saying that, Jeff King themselves said what I say, directed toward customers who demonstrates sustained, engage use of our platform. I know a person when I hear a P. Awesome.

I know a Pimp when I hear a Pimp. Tell me your insurance agent. She's the local folk dancer. Call it what you want. You're being predatory. Again, for the people out there that like betting, go bad. Don't hurt yourself.

Don't do harm to yourself. Don't hurt your family. Don't hurt your own personal situation. Enjoy yourself. If that's where you find your enjoyment and entertainment, do it. Do it. The majority of the people we're talking to now are adults. So go be an adult, make your decisions, live your life.

I can't live my life, your life for you. I can't and I won't. We're just having the conversation that Draft King told you. Somebody from Draft King said this is what goes on. No VIG is public. You can see what's going on. And there is irony in the using a VIG as a part of the promotion in the name of the app.

It's no Vig. Often it's right in front of you. And if that's what people want to do, again, I don't tell people to not bet. I tell people, I tell people that I don't bet, and I tell them why. How many people do you know have been around more pro teams, more college teams than I have? Not many.

Not many. But there are people that think they're smarter than I am about this whole betting good. And I'm telling you, keep your damn money. Keep your money. I'll root for you. I'll root for you. I'm always rooting for you. Texas says this, Ted says,

I'm my brother thinks he's a professional gambler. He's been playing Kino for 20 years and has a system. Oh, those are my people. He has a system. My sister was a bingo player. Her and my mom, they would go every Wednesday night. They had a system. The number of cars they play, where they sit, all the things, right?

He says, now he's figured out supposedly the digital slap machines and gas stations. He's always quick to show me to three or four hundred bucks. He wins or occasionally say how he's now supplementing his income. Funny enough, he never told me how much. much he loses. True story. He goes further. He goes the same predatory mindset with video gaming and kids. Kids don't know that Fortnite is just designed to chemically trick your mind into playing all the time so they can continue to make money. I don't know many people who are making money off playing Fortnite or playing video games, quite frankly. But do you know anybody that's

heard of a few? Don't know anybody. Right. Heard of a few don't know any. that's the that that's the that's the that's the current state uh big b says this current state of considering the current state are there rules though uh to his previous text about insider trading there are rules but that again rules are only effective if they're actually followed and executed if there is some consideration for it and then that reminds you that means you have to have people who are there and i just told you there are people who are there and cybersecurity and digital tracking and all those things and reports of bet, those things are tracked.

If you're doing online betting, there is a digital footprint that you leave. There's a tracking that anytime your account sends money to another account, that has digital tracking. Folks can see it. They can see how much. They can see how often it is. They could also see a hotspot if several bets are coming in about the same thing at the same time. And then often they recognize that there's certain states where those things are blocked and monitored.

So that's certainly helpful. What's the betting rule for online betting in the state of Nebraska, right? Well, you can't bet on Nebraska. In sports, in sports, in state sports. Can you bet in Iowa? Yeah. How far is Iowa? Not too far.

So is there some likelihood that people driving to Iowa? Not just a likelihood. I see it used to be before there is casinos here. And everybody's got a friend in Iowa who will make the bet for him. Right. Right. Would you have to go, would you have to resort to subterfuge? You might want to consider it.

You might want to consider it. That's all. A railroad of Matt says this. The worst of it is these young people, influencers that supposedly teach you how to win sports in betting. People don't realize these influencers are paid by draft kings and other betting apps to get you up. That's literally the point. Well said.

Well said. And I can tell you how many offers I've had to do a betting show. Bach 10 days ago. 10 days ago, you're knowledgeable, you're connected. You'd be a great ambassador for sports wagering. Yes, I would be. because I can tell you why to make the bet and why not make the bet. But I'm not going to be responsible.

Here's my thing. Me personally, and it's just me. This microphone is a responsibility. It's a responsibility. Not everybody gets to sit here with an amplified voice and a face that's known, right? A face that's trusted. You want your face to be trusted. You want people to think box a truth teller, right?

They don't have to like what you say, but they will give you respect if they feel like you're being honest and genuine about why you said. Right. I work from that. And I don't want to sit here ever and hear somebody say, DP said bet on Dallas.

first of all, that's my way of telling you I got kidnapped. If you ever hear me get on here and say, I'm rooting for Dallas, I've been kidnapped. Call the authorities. That's going to be my safe work. You'll know things have gone horribly wrong, Doc. Call 911 immediately. But I don't want anybody to say that they bet and lost money

because I said, I knew somebody was going to win. I don't want that on me. I don't want that on me. I'm not in your house. I don't want your wife mad at you because house money was lost. I don't want your kids to go without.

I don't want your kids to have to deal with you in a bad mood because you're in debt and because you're betting. I don't want that. It's not that important. I've got other stuff to talk about. I got a million things talk about. I don't have to sit here and tell you,

hey, man, go bet on Buffalo. It's a sure, it's a lock. You're never going to hear me say that. I'm not going to do it. Not going to do it. Yeah. Big pieces, T.P. Please don't.

There's already too much access to gambling as the way. I don't hate on gamblers. There's just enough of it already. Yeah, but here's the thing. It's kind of what box. said, as much money as they're making and as much business as they do, there's no lacking of finding betters. There's a ton of people. There's always room for betters. Just because it's a thing doesn't mean I have to be a part of it. That's literally the line for me is

it's okay for you to do it. I don't want any part of it. Brad from Baldwin, he says, is Washington in a lock. No, never. Never. Never. Never. Never. So. And Frank, we got it. I got the programming handled. I got the, I got it. I got it. I got it covered. But the question here, too, is kind of going back to it is like, because, again, business will kind of be business, right? I think pizza. And for what it's worth, Draft Kings is dealing with competitors, right? Cal She, all these different things that are coming up. This is kind of the wave of gambling now that it's been popularized and you can get it on your phone and all that stuff is does there need to be some sort of government intervention or something like that. I heard Austin bringing up. It's a very good

point is like cigarettes, right? At one time, Joe Campbell could go on TV commercials and everybody thought it was, you know, a fun little character. And then at some point they had to shut it down to the point in most countries or many countries, you'll see boxes of cigarettes It's not only not have a fun little camel on it, but have disgusting mouths on it of people that have smoked for the longest time. And that's what you have to face when you buy it. And so that's where you kind of wonder is kind of what is the next step. Does there need to be, you know, government intervention on putting a handle on these companies or something of some sort to save the face? I don't know what the government involvement is or should be.

people are people and if we figure out why people are doing what they're doing, it's much easier to have conversations. But I think having the conversations matter because you get to feel, if you're feeling uncomfortable by the conversation, it's probably a conversation that should be had. If everybody agrees on it,

then we've already agreed, and we don't need to have the conversation. And Frank, we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11 texts asking us to continue the conversation. We have blanket says this and we'll go to break. So a great example. If I had to bet, I would hear a jerk reference.

When I chose to listen to Today's show, I would have bet wrong. Guess your weight. Win some crap. There's always good room for a jerk. I was born a poor black child. It's my special purpose. It's so good. That movie is so good.

And I underrated actress, Bernadette Peters. Her and that role, exceptional stuff. We'll go to break. More one-on-one. We'll be right back. Watch live on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch. You're listening to One-on-One with DP on 937, the Ticket and The Ticket FM.com.