Connecticut lawmaker aims to combat gambling addiction through safe betting bill
The proposal would raise accountability standards for states that offer legal sports wagering.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal, along with several supporters, recently gathered outside the XL Center in downtown Hartford, Connecticut to voice sports betting addiction concerns, according to a recent news report in the Hartford Courant.
The group met in front of a large retail sports betting facility that was built inside the arena.
Senator Blumenthal has expressed concern regarding sports betting addiction and has sponsored a bill called the Safe Bet Act.
The bill would require states with legal sports betting markets “to reach certain standards regarding affordability, advertising, and artificial intelligence in an effort to curb problem gambling.”
Another aspect of the proposal would call for a ban on sports betting commercials during live athletic events.
The senator further explained his motivation for the bill to local news by saying, “The sports betting industry is growing astronomically, and so is the problem of addictive gambling.
“Problem gambling affects everyone. Whether you know it or not, chances are good that you know a co-worker, a neighbor, a family member that has been affected deeply and perhaps irrevocably by addictive gambling.”
Since the US Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports wagering, more than 35 states have opened legal and regulated markets within their borders.
Senator Bluenthal and New York Representative Paul Tonko have also pitched legislation that would prohibit wagers on college athletes and ban prop bets that are based on how college and amateur athletes perform.
Prop bets involve wagers on how many rebounds or points a basketball player could have or the number of touchdowns or yards that football players might have. With prop bets, players bet on these game aspects “instead of or in conjunction with a game’s outcome or spread.”
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