FanDuel to Pay Jacksonville Jaguars $5 Million After Ex-Employee Stole Millions for Betting

FanDuel Sportsbook has agreed to pay the Jacksonville Jaguars roughly $5 million to resolve claims tied to about $22 million stolen by a former team finance employee who used the funds for sports betting, the team said.

Amit Patel, who worked in the Jaguars’ finance department, diverted funds through a virtual credit card program between 2019 and 2023, transferring an estimated $20 million to FanDuel and about $1 million to rival operator DraftKings for sports wagering and daily fantasy play, according to reports. Patel was sentenced in March 2024 to six and a half years in prison and ordered to pay $21.1 million in restitution to the Jaguars; he also was required to attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Patel’s attorney, Alex King, told reporters that Patel lost "approximately 99 percent" of the stolen money through gambling. In coverage last year, a fellow daily fantasy player described Patel as "the biggest loser ever on FanDuel" and said he was "legendarily bad" at sports betting. Patel said in a statement at his sentencing, "I can never truly convey how sorry I am to everyone affected by my actions."

The Jaguars said Patel was fired a year before his sentencing. Megha Parekh, the team’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, told local and national outlets the team had trusted Patel and that his conduct was a profound betrayal: "We gave him his dream job. We trusted him. We worked with him. We broke bread with him. We went through a pandemic and the highs and lows of the NFL with him," she said.

The National Football League encouraged FanDuel to reach a resolution with the Jaguars but did not actively participate in the discussions, according to reports. ESPN said FanDuel was "motivated to pay the Jaguars in the interest of being a good partner with the league." The reported payment is understood as a commercial resolution between FanDuel and the team and does not replace the court-ordered restitution owed by Patel.

In October 2024, Patel filed a civil suit against FanDuel alleging the company "preyed on his gambling addiction," according to The Associated Press. FanDuel has disputed responsibility for Patel's criminal conduct but, amid discussions with the team and pressure from the league environment around sportsbook partnerships, opted to provide the payment to the Jaguars.

Industry analysts and team officials have said the case underscores continuing tensions between professional sports organizations and sports-betting operators as partnerships between leagues, teams and sportsbooks expand. The incident prompted internal reviews within the Jaguars organization of controls over vendor payments and internal virtual-card programs; the team said it has taken steps to strengthen oversight and accounting safeguards since uncovering the theft.

DraftKings, which was reported to have received about $1 million in transfers from Patel, has not disclosed any payment to the Jaguars in connection with the matter. The $5 million from FanDuel does not extinguish Patel’s larger restitution obligation, and the Jaguars have said they will continue to pursue recovery through legal channels and restitution ordered by the court.

The agreement marks a rare instance of a sportsbook making a direct payment to a franchise in response to funds originating from criminal activity by a team employee. As legal and commercial ties between sports leagues and wagering companies deepen, the resolution may figure in future negotiations and in league guidance to teams and partners on risk management and consumer protections.