SAFE Bet Hearing One-Sided, Sports Betting Industry Forced to Sidelines

Posted on: December 17, 2024, 01:14h. 

Last updated on: December 17, 2024, 01:56h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Tuesday’s United States Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on whether the legal sports betting landscape needs federal oversight was missing a key star witness in the industry itself.

sports betting hearing Congress
US Sen. Dick Durbin leads the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on whether federal oversight of sports betting is needed. The hearing in Washington, DC, was rather one-sided, the legal, regulated gambling industry argued. (Image: Casino.org)

The Judiciary Committee, led by Presiding Chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), held a hearing called, “America’s High-Stakes Bet on Legalized Sports Gambling.” The powerful committee invited five witnesses, but no one who’s currently engaged in the operational side of the sports betting industry.

The hearing centered on the SAFE Bet Act, or the Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act. The legislation proposed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) seeks to place a series of federal regulations on every state that has legal gambling on sports.

If passed by Congress and signed by the president, the SAFE Bet Act as it’s currently written would ban all television sports gambling advertising between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Sportsbooks would also need to conduct “affordability checks” on high-volume bettors and those wishing to make large wagers. Daily deposit limits would be enacted and credit cards would be banned.

Sportsbooks would also be prohibited from utilizing artificial intelligence to tailor incentives and promos to customers. Advertising language like “risk-free” would also be excluded.  

One-Sided Testimony

The Senate Judiciary, a committee in which Blumenthal sits, didn’t invite any sportsbook operators, state lawmakers who crafted sports wagering laws, current gaming regulators, or anyone else from the gaming industry, including its lead trade group, the American Gaming Association (AGA), to testify. Instead, the committee heard from a handful of invited guests who largely support federal oversight of sports betting.

NCAA President Charlie Baker stressed the risks associated with player props. Durbin opened the discussion by presenting Baker with a hypothetical about a disadvantaged youth basketball player who makes it big only to throw some free throws for a friend in cahoots with a bookie.

Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, told the committee that the expansion of sports betting has “led to increased harm on a national scale” and that Congress can and should take steps the intervene. Johnson Bademosi, a former NFL player, opined that while sports betting has increased fan engagement, it’s also led to the “dehumanization of players.”

Harry Levant, a certified gambling counselor whose website reads, “Gambling: A Public Health Threat,” labeled the current state of the sports betting industry as being a “public health crisis.” Levant, the director of gambling policy at Northeastern University who helped Blumenthal and Tonko write the SAFE Bet Act, added that online betting is “tragically ruining the lives of many people and countless families.”

AGA Hello? 

The AGA has helped many state governments across the country craft their laws and regulations on gambling, including sports betting. The group that represents the interests of both commercial and tribal gaming entities on the federal and state levels has also regularly been called to testify before congressional committees.

This time was different. While there was time provided for Republican Sens. John Kennedy (LA) and Josh Hawley (MO) to press Baker on the NCAA’s allowing of transgender students to compete in sports in which they identify, the AGA was given no time to present its defense of the sports betting landscape.

Today’s hearing notably lacked an industry witness. This unfortunate exclusion leaves the committee and the overall proceeding bereft of testimony on how legal gaming protects consumers from the predatory illegal market and its leadership in promoting responsible gaming and safeguarding integrity,” Joe Maloney, the AGA Senior VP of Strategic Communications Joe Maloney, told Casino.org.

“We remain committed to robust state regulatory frameworks that protect consumers, promote responsibility, and preserve the integrity of athletic competition,” Maloney added.

The AGA opposes the SAFE Bet Act on the belief that it’s a “heavy-handed” federal bill that undermines the work of state lawmakers, regulators, and the sports betting industry to provide a safe, regulated sports betting market with consumer safeguards and responsible gaming protections.