Casino Industry: Leagues Should Not 'Call The Shots' For Sports BettingIndustry Pushes Back Against New York Senator's Pitch |
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Nationwide sports betting revenue (the money won directly from gamblers) could be more than $15 billion annually in not-too-distant future. All of that is on the line right now as stakeholders jockey for position in the exploding market.
In the wake of a call for new federal regulation of the industry from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the American Gaming Association released a letter Thursday pushing back against those tentative plans, though it echoed Schumer’s consumer protection sentiment.
The AGA said that it “firmly believes that additional federal engagement is not warranted at this time.” Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in mid-May, states have been given the green light to legalize and regulate the industry how they see fit.
“AGA strongly believes no additional federal engagement is needed at this time based on the significant, effective regulatory oversight already in place,” the lobbying group explained. “Across the country, more than 4,000 dedicated public servants effectively regulate the commercial and tribal casino industry, including sports wagering. Replacing an already proven regulatory regime with a non-existent and untested federal oversight apparatus would be out of step with 7 in 10 Americans who think this decision should be left to each state and tribe.”
Part of Schumer’s pitch included letting the sports leagues have unprecedented control over legal betting. The leagues would be able to tell sports books what types of bets are allowed.
“[A] few major sport leagues have proposed they be able to restrict, at their sole discretion, the types of bets allowed on their games,” the AGA said. “This suggestion was made based on the leagues’ concerns that certain types of bets could be more susceptible to manipulation in the betting market. While sports book operators are aligned on the underlying goal of preventing market manipulation – which could severely impact both their business reputations and bottom lines – we see this proposal as counterproductive and unnecessary. Sports book operators already have significant economic incentive to avoid offering bets that pose a significant risk. Moreover, attempts to restrict bets that have broad customer demand would further empower illegal operators that don’t abide by the same set of rules.”
The AGA pointed to Nevada’s long-standing sports betting industry as a model.
“As the only state with a long enough history to be used as a case study, Nevada has gotten this right,” the AGA said. “Sports leagues have the ability to ask the Nevada Gaming Commission to restrict wagering on games involving that league’s Nevada-based teams, or on league’s contests which take place in Nevada. Even then, there is no unilateral ability for any league to call the shots when it comes to what bets sports books can offer. In the past decade, the leagues have not once availed themselves of this option.”
Formal efforts to regulate sports betting at the federal law could advance in 2019.
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