Earlier this week, sports betting was under the federal spotlight at a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On the latest episode of iGaming Daily, Jessica Welman, Editor of SBC Americas, was joined by Charlie Horner, SBC’s Media Manager, to dissect the meeting that was largely waylaid by a heated debate between lawmakers and NCAA President Charlie Baker on transgender athletes competing in college sport.
Both Jess and Charlie noted that there was a “stark” lack of representation from the industry at the hearing. Alongside executives from the National Council on Problem Gambling and the Public Health Advocacy Institute, the closest to an industry representative was David Rebuck, the former head of the New Jersey Division of Gaming.
Charlie said: “That metaphorical empty chair was an elephant in the room. I thought Rebuck did a very good job of putting things into context and giving the industry’s perspective from his time as a regulator.
“But really, we’re here to talk about the operators and we need an operator in the room.”
A notable talking point from the hearing was the push for a federal ban on college player prop bets, however, Jess explained that this would be challenging to enforce given that sports betting in the US is regulated on a state level.
She said: “I spoke with an attorney about this because I don’t understand how you could even do that or if that’s even legal given the PASPA decision.
“He was noting that in the US, there’s no federal seatbelt law but if you’re a state that doesn’t have a seatbelt law, they can withhold certain federal funding from you. So you could do some sort of workaround like that.
“[Alternatively], you could do an overarching system like the Safe Bet Act where the federal government says you guys can do what you want at the state level but you have to meet these minimum mandates.”
The call for a ban on college player props follows the rising trend of student-athletes receiving abuse from sports bettors. Earlier this year, the NCAA revealed that 10-15% of college athletes experience harassment.
“Some of the points that Baker made during the hearing were quite compelling,” said Charlie.
“Just talking about the direct messages that some of these athletes are receiving and some of the public messages that they’re receiving, it’s pretty horrific stuff that these athletes are receiving.
“The idea of banning player prop bets is very compelling but, as you say, Jess, it’s very difficult to actually implement. It’s often the case with political movements, [they] come from a good place but implementing them is quite challenging and this is definitely one of those.”
In response, some US states, such as Ohio and Virginia, have brought into law mandatory self-exclusion for those found to be harassing athletes, however, Jess noted that she has yet to hear of any sports bettor being placed on these lists.
She added: “If you’re the athlete, and I hate that this is the culture, but do you want to be the guy or girl that would like to criminally prosecute this person because do you know the hell and the hatred that will rain down upon them?
“I implore somebody to be the person to take that first step and I would for us to make an example of someone and send them to prison, but I’m just not sure that’s coming.”
