GVC Holdings’ director of regulatory affairs Martin Lycka took time out during September’s Betting on Sports conference in London to update SBC about the level of impact the 2020 US election will have on the legislative process at state level. 

Lycka discussed the federal failings around the issue of online gambling and sports betting whilst also stating that regulation was progressing solely on a state-by-state basis. 

He commented: “[The 2020 election] may impact the legislative process that has been kicked off in the United States, of course, on the one hand the issue of of online gambling or even wider sports betting issues have not been handled on the federal level. 

“The regulation has been going forward on a state by state basis and at the same time there have been a few attempts to try to regulate at least some aspects of online gambling. 

“The likes of sports integrity, potentially mandated fees for using sports data or even responsible gambling on the federal level so the election and whoever will ultimately win that election might have an impact on the regulatory steps going forward, also owing to the fact that some of the big casino guns are amongst the donors to one of the upcoming presidential campaigns.”  

With this being said Lycka wagered a positive prediction regarding what the US regulatory landscape will look like in the next six months. 

Moreover, the director of regulatory affairs emphasised a potential rise in regulated sports betting states and stated there was an industry expectation for New York to follow in the footsteps of California. 

Lycka concluded: “My view is that there will be even more regulation on the state level. There is an ever increasing number of US states that have sports betting online gambling regulation in their pipelines, of course the big ones are the population rich states, in particular the likes of New York. I suppose the whole industry will be expecting with bated breath what will have happened in California and when.”