It turns out that no one – not even problem and responsible gambling advocates – are embracing the SAFE Bet Act, unveiled at a press conference earlier this month by US Representative Paul Tonko and Senator Richard Blumenthal. It's already been publicly called “obnoxious” and “insulting”.
The SAFE Bet Act attempts to reverse the 2018 Supreme Court decision to make legal sports betting a states’ rights issue. It does not yet have a bill number and has not been filed. UCLA clinical professor of psychology Dr Tim Fong said the current version of the bill would “do more harm than good”.
Jeff Ifrah, a gaming lawyer and a founding member of iDevelopment and Economic Association (iDEA), told iGB that the bill is a lot to process because “the first suggestion out of the gate [is] to include an unconstitutional registration requirement”. He also said the bill sponsors appear to be trying to “fill some sort of need that doesn’t exist”.
There is much not to like about SAFE Bet Act, say t..
