Connecticut regulators identified more than 200 suspected cases of underage sports betting involving DraftKings and FanDuel accounts between February 2025 and February 2026, according to reporting on Department of Consumer Protection Gaming Division data.

What the Data Shows

The cases involved minors — in some instances children as young as seven and eight years old — accessing parent-held sportsbook accounts and placing wagers. Reported examples include:

  • A father who told DraftKings his seven-year-old son had accessed his account to place sports bets.
  • Another parent who reported his eight-year-old child placing wagers via the parent’s logged-in account.
  • A FanDuel customer who claimed his 14-year-old daughter had made an “absurd amount of deposits” after gaining access to his tablet.

The 21+ minimum age for Connecticut sports betting is set in Public Act 21-23, the state’s foundational sports betting law. All three licensed operators (FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics) use identity verification at registration plus geolocation at every wager, but those controls do not prevent a logged-in account from being passed to another household member.

What Regulators Say

Kristofer Gilman, director of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection’s Gaming Division, told reporters that underage betting is likely far more widespread than the 200+ official cases suggest. The reported figures represent incidents that came to regulator attention — typically through parent complaints, account disputes, or operator self-reporting — and almost certainly understate the total.

How the Issue Surfaces

Most cases follow a similar pattern:

  1. A parent registers a legitimate FanDuel or DraftKings account from inside CT, providing valid identity verification.
  2. The parent leaves the device or app logged in — often on a shared tablet or family laptop.
  3. A minor in the household accesses the logged-in app and places bets, sometimes over weeks or months.
  4. The parent notices unexpected charges, lost funds, or a series of unfamiliar bets.
  5. The parent files a complaint with the operator, who may report it to CT DCP.

Disputes over recovered funds are typically negotiated between the account holder and the operator. CT operators have generally refunded deposits in confirmed underage-use cases, but case-by-case outcomes vary.

Industry and Policy Response

The findings have intensified discussion among CT lawmakers and responsible-gambling advocates about:

  • Account security requirements — Could operators be required to implement biometric login (Face ID, fingerprint) before every wager?
  • Periodic re-authentication — Should accounts time out after a period of inactivity and require fresh KYC?
  • Default deposit limits — Some advocates suggest mandatory low default daily deposit caps that can only be raised with additional verification.

The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling (CCPG) operates a 24/7 helpline at 1-888-789-7777, and the ResponsiblePlayCT.org portal provides safer-play tools developed in partnership with operators, CCPG, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the CT Lottery.

For parents: if you keep a CT sportsbook account, log out after every session, enable Face ID or fingerprint authentication where supported, and avoid storing payment methods inside the app where children can reach them.