Key Points
- FanDuel’s Kindbridge collaboration, launched as a New Jersey and Ohio pilot in March 2024, now covers self-assessment, education, and clinical referrals, with more than 6,000 customers completing a voluntary mental health survey in March 2026.
- Flutter’s Positive Impact Plan sets a target of 50% of global online customers using an RG tool by the end of 2026, backed by a $100 million commitment, giving FanDuel’s Kindbridge expansion a hard corporate deadline.
- FanDuel’s responsible gaming tool usage rose 41% year-on-year in 2025, the company’s highest rate on record, yet the Kindbridge push fills a gap that platform tools alone cannot close.
From A Two-State Pilot To A Nationwide Mental Health Programme, Quietly
FanDuel’s partnership with Kindbridge Behavioural Health started small, almost cautiously. When the two companies announced their arrangement in March 2024, the scope covered self-excluded customers in New Jersey and Ohio only. Two states. One entry point. No wider ambition publicly stated at the time. For anyone watching the US responsible gambling policy, it reads like a careful pilot with room to grow.
It has grown. FanDuel confirmed this week that Kindbridge assessments are now available to customers at the point of self-exclusion, without limiting the offer to specific states. More striking is what happened in March 2026, before any self-exclusion trigger: more than 6,000 FanDuel customers completed a voluntary Kindbridge mental health survey. Those customers were not in crisis. They were invited to consider their relationship with gambling and any connection to their mental health, then chose to engage. That distinction matters considerably more than the headline figure.
What Kindbridge Delivers, And Why Operators Cannot Do It Themselves?
Kindbridge is completely telehealth. It is an organisation that works out of Denver and links individuals with problems like gambling addiction, digital dependency, and other psychological problems with professional therapists, peer groups, educational classes, and individual coaching. No physical office. No waiting room.
That model solves a problem operators structurally cannot address in-house. A sportsbook can set deposit limits and send alerts. It cannot provide a licensed therapist. The Kindbridge arrangement means that when a FanDuel customer chooses to self-exclude, a complimentary mental health assessment from Kindbridge is available immediately. FanDuel also directs those customers to BetBlocker alongside the Kindbridge referral, giving departing players two external resources rather than one.
Daniel Umfleet, the Founder, and CEO of Kindbridge, has called this collaboration about trying to assist individuals in achieving a healthier relationship with gambling by helping them get an idea of their financial state, being aware of any spending habits they might have, and making sure that they do not bet money they cannot afford to lose. Cory Fox, the SVP of Public Policy and Sustainability at FanDuel, emphasised this point when commenting on it. “The idea is for us to encourage customers to step back and think about their play,” he stated.
The Competitive Context Most Coverage Skipped
This is what has been largely overlooked in the majority of articles about this story. DraftKings increased its internal Kindbridge program in March 2024, which is the same month that FanDuel introduced its pilot in two states. At the time when FanDuel tested the program in New Jersey and Ohio, its nearest competitor in the US already took Kindbridge nationwide.
FanDuel’s 2026 expansion update closes that gap. The proactive survey layer, reaching customers who have not self-excluded, is something DraftKings has not publicly matched. Whether that distinction reflects a genuine strategic difference or simply a difference in what each company chooses to disclose is worth watching.
The corporate deadline behind the move is also underreported. Flutter’s Positive Impact Plan, the group’s global sustainability strategy, sets a target of 50% of online customers globally using a responsible gaming tool by the end of 2026, backed by a $100 million commitment. FanDuel is Flutter’s single largest brand by revenue. Its responsible gaming metrics carry direct weight for Flutter’s group-level sustainability reporting, and the Kindbridge expansion feeds directly into that accountability.
FanDuel’s Own Platform Numbers, In Context
Kindbridge builds upon the increasing platform-level RG tooling infrastructure. The My Spend tool was launched in 2024, allowing users to see their deposits and net gains within the last seven days, last month, or last three months. Over the 2024-25 NFL season, about 3.5 million customers of FanDuel, almost half of the site’s entire customer base, utilised the tool to examine their behaviour through My Spend. Consumer testing at that time demonstrated that 75% of the users believed the tools helped them monitor and manage their game.
The user could establish deposit, wager, losses and time limits on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The Real-Time Check-In tool, launched in 2025, uses machine learning and deposit data to give instant feedback on users’ behaviour in sportsbook, racing and casino products. Overall, in 2025, the use of responsible gaming tools by users grew 41% compared to 2024, which is the highest utilisation rate for the company. In January 2026, the Play with a Plan campaign launched, positioning all the tools as regular product features rather than crisis management.
The Programmes Running Alongside The Platform Tools
FanDuel’s responsible gaming work stretches beyond product features. In March 2025, the company launched “The Comeback with Craig Carton” on FanDuel TV, a series focused on problem gambling recovery stories hosted by FanDuel’s long-time responsible gaming ambassador, himself a recovered problem gambler. The show streamed on YouTube and FanDuel TV+, reaching audiences outside the app.
The Trusted Voices programme places former NBA player Randy Livingston and sports agent Anita Smith as responsible gaming ambassadors, providing parents, coaches, and guardians with resources on gambling risks and warning signs among young people. College student resources were added in 2025, widening the programme’s reach beyond FanDuel’s adult customer base. FanDuel has also donated $150,000 each to the National Council on Problem Gambling and the International Centre for Responsible Gaming, the latter funding a Centre of Excellence dedicated to responsible gambling research.
Expert Analysis
The 6,000 volunteer responses to the survey in March 2026 have a greater significance than would initially be apparent. The voluntary use of a tool to help individuals reflect on their mental well-being not only through self-exclusion and crisis triggers but simply because individuals feel the need to do so prior to a crisis speaks to the existence of a player base that will look at its own behaviour. Kindbridge’s telehealth model removes most of the practical barriers that typically stop people from seeking support.
What we have not yet seen, and what will determine whether this programme represents real clinical reach or a well-designed referral layer, is data on what those surveys revealed and what happened next. Did players adjust their behaviour? Did assessments lead to further support? FanDuel has not published those outcomes yet, and until it does, the survey figure remains promising but incomplete.
The broader industry is already paying attention. High Roller Technologies announced its own Kindbridge arrangement in January 2026, targeting Ontario, making Kindbridge the most active clinical partner in the regulated North American market. FanDuel’s expanded deal, with its survey data and pre-crisis intervention focus, currently represents the most detailed public implementation in the US. Whether that lead produces measurable outcomes, or simply generates good press during Problem Gambling Awareness Month, is the question the next set of disclosures will have to answer.
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