Rep. Paul Tonko and Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced details of their new Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet (SAFE) Bet Act during a press conference on Thursday.
Bill would create federal oversight of state-run sports betting
The overarching idea of the bill is to let states continue to regulate and oversee sports betting but to implement a set of federal minimum standards that state regulators and operators need to meet. States would be required to apply to the Department of Justice in order to get the greenlight to run a regulated market.
Those federal standards cover a wide range of topics related to responsible and problem gambling. Unlike Tonko’s previous bill, the Betting on Our Future Act, which sought to ban all electronic advertising of sports betting, this version would allow it, but with several limitations.
The bill would prohibit advertising during primetime hours as well as during live sporting events, implement language restrictions on words like “bonus”, “odds boost” and “no-sweat”, prohibit education about how to bet within the advertising and limit celebrity spokespeople from offering suggested bets to users.
Bill would introduce affordability checks, limit ads, prohibit AI
The legislation also takes a nod from other markets like the U.K. and includes what would be the first mandated affordability checks for sports bettors in the regulated U.S. market.
Bettors would not be able to deposit via credit card, they would be limited to five deposits a day and operators would need to run affordability checks on bettors wagering at least $1,000 in a one-day period or $10,000 in a 30-day period. Bettors whose wagering exceeds more than 30% of their income would not be approved to bet.
The bill would greenlight several reports, including from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Surgeon General’s office and the Center for Disease Control and would also introduce a national self-exclusion list.
Finally, the bill would take proactive steps to limit the use of AI by sportsbook operators to track bettor behavior, create personalized betting offers or to generate gambling products like microbes.
In-game betting was a major focus of the press conference, with lawmakers and representatives from the National Public Health Institute suggesting that the proliferation of in-game and microbetting was not what the government anticipated when the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
They did not call out DraftKings by name but specifically mentioned DraftKings’s acquisition of Simplebet as an indicator of what they feel is a problem.
While Blumenthal also introduced the Gambling Addiction Recovery, Investment and Treatment (GRIT) Act at the start of the year, which would allocate the funds collected on the federal excise tax on sports betting and use them to fund problem gambling initiatives, the subject of funding did not come up during Thursday’s press event.
Based on the limited information around the bill, it seems to only apply to sports betting and would not impact other forms of gambling such as casinos, online casinos or the lottery.
Trade orgs quick to speak out against SAFE Bet Act
Trade groups within the industry were quick to respond to the press conference expressing concerns about the proposed legislation.
“Today’s regulated sports wagering operators are contributing billions in state taxes across the U.S., protecting consumers from dangerous neighborhood bookies and illegal offshore websites, and working diligently with over 5,000 state and tribal regulators and other stakeholders to ensure a commitment to responsibility and positive play. Six years into legal sports betting, introducing heavy-handed federal prohibitions is a slap in the face to state legislatures and gaming regulators who have dedicated countless time and resources to developing thoughtful frameworks unique to their jurisdictions, and have continued to iterate as their marketplaces evolve,” said American Gaming Associaton Senior Vice President of Government Relations Chris Cylke.
iDEA Growth issued a statement on the measure as well, saying, in part:
“iDEA remains committed to working with lawmakers, regulators, and stakeholders to enhance player protections in a way that empowers states and preserves the benefits of a well-regulated, competitive market. We urge Congress to reject this misguided federal mandate and instead support state-based solutions that are already working across the country.
The SAFE Bet Act’s blanket, one-size-fits-all requirements on advertising, affordability checks, and artificial intelligence stifle the autonomy of states and tribal governments, many of which have implemented their own robust regulatory frameworks tailored to the needs of their constituents. These measures not only infringe on states’ rights but also risk undermining the operational flexibility that has allowed the legal sports betting industry to thrive, create jobs, and generate critical tax revenue that supports education, infrastructure, and other vital services.”
Since the repeal of PASPA, several federal bills have been introduced regarding sports wagering, but none have made much progress or even advanced out of committee.
