SBC Webinars teamed up with Vector Solutions to hold a roundtable with industry stakeholders to discuss what companies and brands need to know in today’s dynamic regulatory environment. The discussion, What Regulators Are Watching: Trends in Enforcement & Audit Readiness for 2025 and Beyond, covered key topics including auditing techniques, compliance strategies and the biggest issues regulators are facing.
The panel, moderated by SBC Community Director Sue Schneider, included former New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Director David Rebuck, Duane Morris Partner Sara Tait, Great Canadian Entertainment Chief Legal Officer Katie Lever and sports and gaming attorney Daniel Wallach.
Emerging gaming verticals spark regulatory action
Over the last year, regulators across the country have been allocating resources toward ensuring compliance in online gaming and emerging verticals, including sweepstakes casinos, social casinos, free-to-play gaming and prediction markets. Despite the focus on online gaming, retail casinos are also still in need of comprehensive regulatory oversight.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been seeing public safety threats lately in land-based gaming,” said Tait. “Regulators are ensuring that properties have the tools that they need to address public safety threats. We’re also seeing fraud issues in both online and land-based.”
The need for regulatory enforcement sparked by the slew of gaming verticals available in today’s U.S. gaming market is proving to be a heavy lift for regulators across the country.
“Most regulators are feeling a bit overwhelmed,” said Rebuck. “It is an evolving series of responsibilities that goes beyond the basics of what was required of regulators when you only had retail and land-based gaming, whether it was tribal, state or provincial.”
Regulators still have a sense of urgency in ensuring compliance despite new challenges. State gaming regulators in several states have issued a slew of cease and desist orders to offshore sportsbooks and sweepstakes casinos. Regulators are also levying fines to operators for regulatory issues, including improper marketing, payments and RG tools.
The cease and desist orders and fines are proving to be effective for some of the largest entities that provide offerings in the U.S. that garner regulatory scrutiny and concerns.
“Many [gaming companies] have complied with the cease and desist orders, mainly some of the larger offshore companies,” said Wallach. “They want to be in the mainstream of the gaming market. They send lobbyists to hearings and defend class action lawsuits.”
Best practices by gaming regulators
There are also other techniques regulators can deploy to ensure fair play in gaming as offshore operators attempt to maintain their presence in North American markets.
“One thing we see in Canada that we don’t really see much at all in U.S. jurisdictions is public disclosure,” said Lever. “For land-based gaming companies in Canada, when you receive a fine a press release is issued that details the harm and who was impacted.”
Relationships are key for regulators and gaming entities to prevent disruptions. They provide transparency and efficiency when tackling regulatory issues throughout gaming.
“It’s important to establish regulatory relationships when there isn’t a problem,” added Tait. “If I’m an operator, I want to control my processes and be proactive rather than having a regulator tell me how to conduct my business.”
The U.S. gaming landscape will continue to change and regulators will continue to react as brands and operators aim to acquire and retain customers. Regulators have the responsibility to ensure that the brands and operators deploy the best business practices.
