Sports betting exploded into an $11 billion a year industry since the Supreme Court effectively legalized it in 2018. Two lawmakers on Capitol Hill say sports betting has gone too far without proper safeguards, and they want to treat it like an addictive product that is no different from alcohol or tobacco.
Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced the Safe Bet Act, which creates federal safety standards for states that allow sports betting.
They call it a comprehensive public health law.
“Every single solitary moment of every sporting event across the globe has become a betting opportunity,” Rep. Tonko said. “This relationship between the gambling industry and sports has reached intolerably dangerous levels, and it’s well past time for Congress to just to step up and make a difference.”
The Safe Bet Act covers three main categories: affordability, artificial intelligence and advertising.
The bill would require operators to conduct affordability checks, limit deposits to five times in 24 hours and prohibit deposits by credit card. It puts the responsibility on the sports books to not serve customers who are chasing losses.
In addition, the bill prohibits sports books from collecting data on customers and offering custom promos and deals based on their habits. It also bans micro bets and prop bets.
The bill also requires that advertisements be played only in times and spaces when children are unlikely to be in the audience. It limits the ads to brand awareness rather than inducement. In other words they cannot show audiences how to gamble.
“Just like you don’t see people drinking in alcohol ads, we shouldn’t see celebrities teaching you their favorite parlay in sports book advertising,” Tonko said.
The bill also creates a general nationwide prohibition against sports betting unless states get an application approved by the Department of Justice.
The lawmakers tried to get ahead of likely claims that the bill goes too far. They said they are not telling states what to do, they are just setting a floor of minimum standards.
“We’re not banning gambling,” Blumenthal said. “We’re banning practices that exploit and abuse people who legitimately want to gamble.”
Gordon Douglas shared his son Andrew’s story in support of the bill.
Andrew Douglas was 28 when he became addicted to sports betting. It started as a way to relieve stress but he got hooked on the feeling and would do anything to get the money he needed to place bets.
“It destroyed our relationship, because, like any addiction, he needed more and more to fuel it,” Gordon Douglas said. “He became a different person that would say anything to get money to gamble.”
