New York representative Paul Tonko and Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal lambasted the practices of US sports betting operators on Thursday (12 September) as they introduced the SAFE Bet Act, which would establish a rigorous federal framework around digital sports wagering.
Legal sports betting became a states’ rights issue in 2018, when the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). Since then, nearly 40 US states and jurisdictions have legalised some form of wagering.
Tonko and Blumenthal outlined the parameters of the bill, which was first announced in March, at a press conference in Washington on Thursday. They were joined by three other speakers.
Mark Gottlieb and Harry Levant, executive director and gambling policy adviser for the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at the Northeastern University School of Law, talked about the public health impacts of sports betting. Gordon Douglas gave an emotional account of his son And..
