Proposed bill seeks to limit "predatory" US sports betting marketing tactics

In a bid to curb what he termed a "growing public health crisis", Representative Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) unveiled plans to introduce legislation aimed at limiting the marketing practices of online sports betting companies in the United States.

Joined by members of Northeastern University's Public Health Advocacy Institute, Tonko emphasized the need to address the proliferation of sports betting in an environment he likened to the "Wild West".

The proposed legislation, dubbed the SAFE Bet Act, outlines stringent measures targeting various aspects of sports betting marketing and customer interaction. Among its key provisions, the bill seeks to ban sportsbook advertising during live sporting events, prohibit the use of language promoting "bonus" or "no sweat" bets, and halt the acceptance of credit cards for customer deposits by sportsbooks.

Additionally, the bill aims to restrict the frequency of deposits from a single customer within a 24-hour period and prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to track gambling habits or create customer-specific prop bets.

Tonko's initiative follows his previous introduction of the Betting on Our Futures Act in February 2023, which focused on banning online and electronic advertising of sports gambling, drawing parallels to the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act's restrictions on tobacco advertisements.

Asserting that many sportsbook marketing tactics are "predatory" and aimed at luring and retaining consumers, Tonko emphasized the need for regulatory intervention to safeguard public health.

"Just as in the tobacco industry when it was determined that that industry was posing a public health situation, we have now displaced Joe Camel with celebrity spokespeople and, yes, free product," Tonko said, as per ESPN.

Since the landmark 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the door for regulated sports betting outside of Nevada, legal markets have proliferated across 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, collectively amassing over $337 million in bets.

Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who has also introduced legislation targeting the sports betting industry, echoed Tonko's concerns regarding the exploitation of real-time data and algorithms to ensnare vulnerable users.

"I've written to the companies urging they cease exploiting their troves of real time data & algorithms to hook vulnerable users," Blumenthal wrote on X.

The American Gaming Association, representing the gambling industry's interests, opted not to comment on Tonko's proposed legislation, expressing a desire to review the bill's details once formally introduced.