With Americans wagering more money on sports betting than ever, legislators, regulators and sportsbooks are placing more focus on responsible gambling efforts and guardrails.
Heading into March Madness betting, the American Gaming Association estimates bettors will wager $3.1 billion on the NCAA Tournament. The handle will approximately double that of Super Bowl betting this year. In 2024, Americans wagered $147.9 billion on sports.
With so much money going through sportsbooks this time of year, the National Council on Problem Gambling has designated March as Problem Gambling Awareness Month. Meanwhile, legislators and regulators are increasingly considering installing more responsible gambling guardrails on the sports betting industry.
March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month
According to the NCPG, 2.5 million Americans suffer from “severe” gambling problems. Another 5 to 8 million face “mild to moderate” problems.
A number of state regulators are participating in Problem Gambling Awareness Month, including Arizona, Illinois, and Connecticut. The event is meant to help raise awareness of problem gambling and promote the availability of prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
Sports betting operators are also amping up responsible gambling activities around the NCAA Tournament this year.
Sportsbooks diving into responsible gambling campaigns
Last week, FanDuel TV premiered “The Comeback with Craig Carton,” a new show focused on problem gambling recovery. It aims to break down the stigma of gambling disorders.
Meanwhile, DraftKings rolled out a responsible gambling campaign to coincide with March Madness.
Earlier this year, a coalition of sportsbooks behind the Responsible Online Gaming Association launched a new campaign to educate college-aged bettors on responsible gambling called Know Your Play. The organization includes most major sportsbooks, including FanDuel and DraftKings.
NCAA aims to stop athlete abuse
NCAA President Charlie Baker has been asking states to prohibit college prop bets for more than a year. The push comes after multiple reports of athletes receiving serious threats from angry bettors.
This year, the NCAA launched an anti-harassment video for the “Draw the Line” campaign. It aims to stop the abuse from fans sent to college athletes.
“The horrific messages we are seeing across online platforms is absolutely unacceptable,” Baker said in a release. “Angry fans are sending numerous abusive messages and threats to student-athletes, publicly and privately, because of lost bets placed on the athlete’s performance in a game.
“These actions severely threaten student-athlete mental health and well-being, while harming the college athletics environment.”
States listen to Baker
Before Baker’s pleas, several states prohibited college player props — and in-state college betting. Several other jurisdictions prohibited them following Baker starting his push.
States like Louisiana, Maryland and Ohio retroactively banned college player props after such regulations were not part of their initial sports betting rules.
LSR rolled out a state-by-state guide to March Madness betting rules this week.
US Congressman introduces college betting bill
While some states have prohibited college prop bets, a new bill dropped last month in the US House Of Representatives. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, who chairs the College Sports Caucus, introduced the Providing Responsible Oversight and Transparency and Ensuring Collegiate Trust Student Athletes Act, or PROTECT Act.
The bill would prohibit college prop bets nationwide. It would designate any violation of the act as a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
“Sports gambling on college campuses has surged in recent years,” Baumgartner said. “Student-athletes dedicate themselves to their sport and education, and it’s essential that we protect their integrity both on and off the field. This bill doesn’t ban betting on college sports games, but it targets wagers on student athletes’ individual performances.”
Baumgartner’s proposal is just a piece of a much larger proposal circulating on Capitol Hill.
Larger responsible gambling bill reintroduced
This month, Rep. Paul Tonko and Sen. Richard Blumenthal reintroduced the SAFE Bet Act, a large bill that seeks to establish a nationwide framework for sports betting.
The legislation would create guidelines for ads, including no marketing during live sports events and no promotions using words like “bonus,” “no sweat” or odds boosts. It would create a nationwide self-exclusion list and require operators to perform “affordability checks on customers.”
The attention spread to a US Senate committee hearing in December. Lawmakers indicated during that meeting that it was just the beginning of congressional scrutiny of the online gambling industry.
The SAFE Bet Act also now looks to make a stronger push against the illegal market, which state regulators are increasingly doing on their own.
Pushing out unregulated operators
Last year, Michigan kicked off a massive streak of states sending cease and desist orders to the offshore sportsbook and gambling platform Bovada. Multiple states have since expanded the list of offshore sites targeted in the push.
This year, lawmakers in at least seven states have introduced legislation prohibiting online sweepstakes operators.
Earlier this month, Nevada sent a cease order to Kalshi, which has begun offering sports event markets. The Nevada Gaming Control Board said Kalshi is offering unlicensed sports betting in the state.
