New documents show a private for-profit company is gaining revenue from Florida's gambling hotline.
The Florida Gaming Control Commission, which is the government agency overseeing the contract that provides money for programs to curb gambling addictions, switched the state's hotline last year from the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling to a new nonprofit called Kindbridge Research Institute. They created a new website and number, 1-833-PLAYWISE, branded with Playwise.
WATCH BELOW: Florida problem gambling hotline funds flow to a for-profit company
According to the latest publicly available tax filing on the IRS' website from 2022, Kindbridge Research Institute's principal officer is Daniel Umfleet. He's listed online as Kindbridge Behavioral Health's founder and CEO.
Records WPTV reporter Ethan Stein obtained show the nonprofit signed a subcontractor agreement with a for-profit company connected to the nonprofit called Kindbridge Behavioral Health, which could then get paid for a variety of services.
For example, invoices show Kindbridge Behavioral Health asked for $131,000 after providing their staff’s time and a variety of services like researching a brand name, designing and delivering a logo, as well as setting up a website from Kindbridge Research Institute.
About a month later, Kindbridge Research Institute would send an invoice to the Florida Gaming Control Commission for a similar amount with descriptions such as "administrative, helpline and advertising" along with additional expenses like $250,000 for training and community outreach.
A spokesperson for Kindbridge didn't have a comment to share with WPTV when this story was published Friday.
Also, we didn't hear back from anybody at the Florida Gaming Control Commission, which oversees state requirements to ensure a small portion of money from casinos gets allocated to resources for problematic gamblers.
Jennifer Kruse, the executive director for the nonprofit Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, said she's concerned the circumstances create an incentive for the helpline to send potential patients to services run by the "for-profit" side of the company.
She said the helpline ultimately becomes a "lead generation" tool for the company, like an auto mechanic shop operating a helpline for people with car needs.
"It's a great business model for them," Kruse said. "The incentive is going to be to self-refer. They're not going to be providing that person with the help that the person really needs, because the incentive is to increase their bottom line, increase their revenues, which they do by increasing the participants in their treatment program."
Kruse's helpline, 1-888-ADMIT-IT, is still operating without promotion or funding from the state.
Data from the nonprofit shows the amount of "contracts" received, like texts/phone calls and emails, jumped 88% the first year gambling was legalized, from around 33,000 to 62,000.
Although contacts did drop the following year, the group received around 50,000 contacts in 2025.
