U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko and Sen. Richard Blumenthal will hold a press conference on Sept. 12 to introduce a new piece of federal online sports betting legislation.

Tonko had previously announced the Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet (SAFE) Bet Act back in March with the aim of regulating gambling as a public health issue in a manner similar to alcohol, tobacco and opioids. The New York Democrat said at that time that the legislation would focus on "advertising along with affordability and the AI impact on gambling.”

The SAFE Bet Act sought to prohibit advertising during live sporting events as well as promotions that offer bonus bets, odds boosts and other inducements. It proposed a ban on specific words and phrases commonly used in gambling promotions, which lawmakers believe can lead to the normalization of risky betting behaviors.

It would also prevent operators from tracking customers’ gambling habits and using them to personalize promotions and other AI-powered products. Further proposals included mandatory affordability checks on customers and a national clearinghouse for people who want to be excluded from contact with betting operators, among other provisions.

The SAFE Bet Act was a next-generation version of the Betting on our Future Act, which Tonko introduced last year and which sought to ban all online and electronic advertising of sports gambling. The new act was supported by the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law. Representatives from the Public Health Advocacy Institute will be present at Thursday’s press conference to advocate for the legislation.

Blumenthal calls out sportsbooks for targeting problem gamblers

In addition to Tonko’s efforts, Blumenthal has been vocal in suggesting that more measures are needed to curb sports betting in the U.S.

In March, he called for sportsbooks to stop what he describes as the targeting of problem gamblers. Blumenthal said he had written to eight major sports betting companies (DraftKings, FanDuel, MGMBet, ESPNBet, Fanatics, Caesars, BetFred, and Bet365) to demand they stop leveraging data to target problem gamblers with promotions and ads.

Blumenthal also urged companies to make it easier for problem gamblers to remove themselves from online betting platforms.

https://sbcamericas.com/2024/09/11/tonko-blumenthal-betting-legislation