U.S. Senate Committee Hearing Addresses Sports BettingWitnesses Say Federal Regulation Needed; Industry Reps Not Included |
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The issue of sports betting took center stage on Tuesday during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee with NCAA president Charlie Baker and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) calling for federal regulation of the industry.
NFLPA representative Johnson Bademosi said that athletes have faced harassment from bettors at games and on social media.
“For most athletes, there is no gated community, no private security, and yet we, alone, are exposed to the threats associated with problematic gambling,” he said.
Testimony Outlines Concerns
Baker echoed similar concerns about collegiate athletes and noted that a recent national championship team required around-the-clock security because of a threat from a sports bettor. In April, the NCAA proposed states banning prop bets on college athletes to ease some of the pressure they face.
“They can get rid of it; they did with the NBA,” Baker said after the hearing on Tuesday. “I’m telling you, a lot of this stuff that gets directed at young people is all driven by prop bets.”
Democrats Rep. Paul Tonko (New York) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) introduced the SAFE Bet Act (Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet) in September that would regulate sports betting advertising, end the practice of providing bonuses to new bettors, set limits on the amount users can bet, banning prop bets on college sports, forming a federal self-exclusion list, and put the Justice Department in charge of approving all states with legal sports betting.
Northeastern University Public Health Advocacy Institute director of gambling policy Harry Levant helped draft the SAFE Bet Act and said that sportsbooks target vulnerable gamblers.
“What Congress can deal with is which forms of these bets should actually be permitted and which are simply too dangerous from a public health perspective,” he said.
Industry Responds
Despite being the focus on the hearing, the American Gaming Association noted that no company representatives or others in the industry were invited to testify – only critics making allegations of the industry’s misdeeds.
“Today’s hearing notably lacked an industry witness,” AGA senior Vice President of Strategic Communications Joe Maloney told ESPN. “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.”
Operators argue that they follow significant state and tribal regulations to operate as the industry has grown more popular in recent years. The iDEA Growth (iDevelopment and Economic Association) group, which represents the online gaming industry, noted before the hearing that regulation proposals by Congress are unnecessary in a system that is working effectively.
“States have taken the lead in regulating sports betting, crafting solutions that address their individual economic, social and cultural considerations,” the group said. “These efforts have not only established robust consumer protections but have also supported economic growth by creating jobs and generating significant funding for critical state programs.
“Imposing federal mandates on sports betting would risk undermining this progress and introduce confusion and inefficiencies in a regulatory environment that is functioning well. Federal intervention threatens to stifle innovation, disrupt state economies and jeopardize the benefits that regulated sports betting has delivered to communities across the country.”
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