A US congressman and senator have announced their sponsorship of the SAFE Bet Act, which would add additional layers of protections to safeguard consumers from predatory advertising and themselves.
Feds Getting Involved
Sports betting has caught on like wildfire in the United States since states were allowed to decide for themselves whether they would permit mobile and/or retail sports betting within their boundaries after the US Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018.
Sports betting and, in some cases, iGaming have become the province of regulatory bodies in each state to craft rules and protections for the industry. The federal government has had no say in how those laws were created or the efficacy of those legislations. Sports betting is now present in 38 states plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico.
The SAFE Bet Act Proposal
But a recent effort to get the federal government involved emanates from US Congressman Paul Tonko of New York and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. The two lawmakers have combined to sponsor the Safe Bet Act, with SAFE being an acronym for Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet.
Senator Blumenthal stated the time has come for higher standards to protect consumers.
“This industry is growing astronomically, and so is the problem of addictive gambling,” Blumenthal said. “The gambling industry knows it, exploits it, and we need to take action to reign in the excesses and abuses before they destroy a lot more families and people.”
The gaming industry in the United States is expected to rise 30% from last year to $35 billion.
“This industry targets losers. It does so methodically and scientifically using algorithms to track who’s betting, what they’re betting on, whether they’re winning or losing,” Blumenthal said. “We need to impose safeguards and guardrails for this industry, and the way to do it is through a federal standard. The state standards for gambling are half-baked and faint-hearted.”
Some of the key tenets of the SAFE Bet Act include the prohibition of sports betting advertisements during live sporting events and banning customers from making more than five deposits in a 24-hour period. In addition, the use of artificial intelligence would not be allowed to track consumers’ betting habits, which often dictate which promotions they will receive based on their gambling history.
Not Everyone’s a Fan
It is not a stretch to see a backlash from the states’ regulatory bodies that have put countless hours into creating their own policies, which include mandating resources for problem gambling and, in many cases, forcing operators to post gambling helplines and internet sites.
The American Gaming Association has issued the following response to the proposed legislation: “Today’s regulated sports wagering operators are contributing billions in state taxes across the U.S., protecting consumers from dangerous neighborhood bookies and illegal offshore websites, and working diligently with over 5,000 state and tribal regulators and other stakeholders to ensure a commitment to responsibility and positive play.
“Six years into legal sports betting, introducing heavy-handed federal prohibitions is a slap in the face to state legislatures and gaming regulators who have dedicated countless time and resources to developing thoughtful frameworks unique to their jurisdictions and have continued to iterate as their marketplaces evolve.”
It is difficult to discern how successful the SAFE Bet Act will be in Congress, as the initial goal was and has been to let states determine their own gambling laws with no interference from the federal government.
Digital Wager Wire will continue to monitor this story and update our readers as events unfold.
