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- A new public advocacy coalition is currently urging lawmakers in Massachusetts and Washington to impose stricter limits on sports betting.
- The reform group wants federal responsible gambling standards and strict state bans regarding live wagering and artificial intelligence data usage.
A new coalition of gambling critics is urging lawmakers in Massachusetts and Washington, DC to impose tougher limits on the sports betting industry, including restrictions on live betting and federal minimum standards for sportsbooks.
The push matters because it ties growing responsible gaming concerns to specific policy proposals at both the state and federal level. Advocates also argue that sportsbook use of personal data and artificial intelligence to target bettors has increased the risks for people already struggling with gambling harm.
Dr. Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University, traveled to Washington with a new advocacy group called Friends and Family of Gamblers, or FFOG, according to Ocean State Media. The group includes parents whose children died by suicide after becoming addicted to sports gambling, along with other relatives and friends affected by gambling addiction.
Levant said gambling addiction rates have increased by at least 60 percent in states where sports betting is legal, including Massachusetts.
Group backs state and federal betting restrictions
Among the measures highlighted in the report is the Bettor Health Act in Massachusetts, which would ban live betting during games and limit how much money people can lose. At the federal level, advocates are also pointing to the Safe Bet Act, which would establish minimum standards for the gambling industry.
According to the article, critics say the industry currently operates without national regulations. They also accuse sports leagues and the NCAA of overlooking mental health risks by partnering with gambling companies.
Levant described FFOG as a broader organizing effort around gambling-related harm.
> “It is harnessing the power of the voices of all those impacted by gambling, impacted by the unprecedented rise of online sports gambling and prediction markets, which are online sports gambling, and determined to do something about it,” Levant said.
AI and personal-data concerns draw added scrutiny
The report also says advocates are raising alarms over how sportsbooks use customer data and AI. Levant said those practices have contributed to financial and mental health harm among gamblers.
> “They’re using A.I. to deliver a fundamentally different, inherently dangerous, and defectively designed product that is being consumed by the public in ways for which it was not intended,” Levant said.
Ocean State Media cited a New York Times report saying the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is investigating how sportsbooks including DraftKings use AI to target gamblers who are losing and encourage more betting.
What happens next is less clear. The source report identifies the Bettor Health Act and Safe Bet Act as the main legislative vehicles, but it does not specify their current status or provide a timeline for possible action.
Source: As reported by Karen Brown.
