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How Much Blame Does Bryce Harper Deserve for FanDuel ‘Scandal’?

The Phillies outfielder is under fire for making a video for a bettor who ended up losing $1.5 million.
Jimmy Traina|
In addition to hitting home runs, Bryce Harper makes Cameo videos.
In addition to hitting home runs, Bryce Harper makes Cameo videos. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Philadelphia Phillies

1. If you perused social media on Thursday, you would’ve seen that in the sports world, Phillies slugger Bryce Harper was Public Enemy No. 1 of the day.

In case you missed the story, which was broken by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Harper, at the request of FanDuel, made a personalized video in November 2024 for one of FanDuel’s VIP customers, Terry Thompson, who would ultimately lose $1.5 million gambling on the platform.

Here is the entirety of Harper’s 21-second message to Thompson:

“Hey, Terry. What’s up, brother? Hey, man, your host Bryttanni from Fan Duel wanted to make sure your Thanksgiving was extra special, so I just wanted to hop on here and wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tell [Thompson’s son’s name] I said hello. I appreciate all the support through the years. I just hope you have a great day. Enjoy it and see you soon. Bye.”

This story blew up on social media in part because it turns out Thompson gambled away his life savings and told his therapist he was planning to take his own life. He is now in treatment for his gambling addiction.

The claim against FanDuel is that it used its VIP services to keep Thompson as a customer, knowing that he had a serious gambling problem. He was given Super Bowl tickets, champagne and other perks—among them, the Harper video.

However, it’s ridiculous to connect Harper to Thompson’s gambling problem. For starters, we don’t know what Harper knew about Thompson. I think it’s fair to assume FanDuel did not give Harper a report on Thompson’s winning and losing. I’m sure they just told Harper that Thompson was a big bettor and important client. In addition, while Harper’s message is totally cringeworthy and cheesy, it has nothing to do with betting. Harper didn’t tell the guy to keep using FanDuel and to keep placing bets or that he hopes he hits a big parlay. Harper just spent 20 seconds wishing the guy a happy Thanksgiving.

In addition, I can tell you as someone who has been betting for 30 years: Thompson was going to keep placing wagers whether he got a 20-second video from Harper or not. Harper’s video was not some sort of trigger.

But here are my issues with Harper. Why on earth is he doing ANYTHING with or for FanDuel? There is not one good reason why Harper would make this video. He makes $330 million. There is absolutely nothing FanDuel could give Harper that should convince him to get in bed with the gambling company. The judgment used here by Harper is just horrific.

(The New York Post reported that the Harper video was facilitated by Cameo, a website where users can pay celebrities for personalized shoutout videos. Harper’s Cameo page currently offers personal videos for $899 and $9,999 for business videos.)

What might be even more mind boggling is that Harper is even on Cameo to begin with. This is the biggest WTF in his entire story for me. I just can’t wrap my brain around the fact that a guy making $330 million needs $900 for making personalized videos. This is just pure insanity.

This also leads to another question. Could FanDuel have just bought the Harper Cameo, sent in the script and Harper read it as is without thinking about the ramifications of doing something for FanDuel?


The story is being spun as FanDuel partnered up with Harper. Maybe FanDuel just bought the Cameo and Harper just went along with the script he was given.

Lastly, neither Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, the Phillies or Harper would comment on this story.

That’s weak and bush league. You have one of the top stars in Major League Baseball getting connected to a betting company. At some point, someone is going to have to address this.

Harper is slated to participate in next week’s Home Run Derby. Good luck trying to avoid being asked about this story when that event rolls around.

2. This seems like the perfect follow up to the Harper story.

Charles Barkley was interviewed at the American Century Championship golf tournament, where he is +7,500 to win it all.

During the end of the chat, Barkley was asked, “What’s the bet looking like this year?” regarding the golf tournament.

His answer was vintage Chuck.

“We got a few out there. I got a few bets. Good thing about it, I can’t run out of money. I could never run out of money, so I’m good. Got a few bets going. But the good thing is I could never go broke.”

3. I’m going to hold out full judgment until I watch the show, but I don’t think I love the idea of ESPN Jeopardy!, hosted by Joe Buck, using ESPN talent instead of regular Joes as the contestants. I would expect people who work in sports for a living to know the answers to questions about ... sports.

4. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald told Dan Patrick that he got intel for his team’s Super Bowl win against the Patriots from someone who had a “conflict of interest.”

Macdonald said it was not Bill Belichick. Could it be a certain Fox lead analyst?

5. Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez is on a roll. After having an existential crisis on the air earlier this week, Hernandez used Thursday’s broadcast as a chance to get a uniform he once wore.

6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina is an all-mailbag episode.

Topics covered include the World Cup and what the U.S.’s exit means for Fox’s ratings; who’s to blame for the Yankees’ struggles and what is the biggest problem with the organization; top 5 play-by-play voices working today; whether the Knicks winning the championship helps the NBA; Sami Zayn winning the WWE title and then losing it nine days later; MLB’s complete incompetence in making a schedule; all-time best ESPN shows excluding SportsCenter; where Fox will turn for a No. 2 college football play-by-play person; the future of Good Morning Football; the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding; Long Island diners; The Bear’s final season and much more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 46th birthday to Jessica Simpson, who gave us one of the great reality TV moments of all time.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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