Senate Committee To Hold Hearing on U.S. Sports Betting

• The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing to discuss sports betting next week
• The hearing, “America’s High-Stakes Bet on Legalized Sports Gambling,” will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 17
• Details on the hearing are not readily available, yet the committee will likely discuss the SAFE Bet Act

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary announced a hearing on American sports betting next week on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 10 a.m.

No details other than the hearing title, “America’s High-Stakes Bet on Legalized Sports Gambling,” have yet to be released. It’s the second Senate hearing on sports betting since PASPA’s repeal in 2018.

The hearing will likely discuss the Supporting Affordability & Fairness with Every Bet Act (SAFE Bet Act), a piece of legislation introduced earlier this year by committee member Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). 

What Impact Will Hearing Have?

The hearing is being held during the Senate’s lame-duck session, so the chances of it having much of an impact on the sports betting industry are slight. However, it will give the public an idea of how federal lawmakers currently view the industry.

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary is chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). It includes 21 members, 12 of which are Senators in states with legalized sports betting. These members are as follows:

• Durbin (D-IL)
• Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
• Chris Coons (D-DE)
• Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
• Cory Booker (D-NJ)
• Peter Welch (D-VT)
• Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
• Josh Hawley (R-MO)
• Tom Cotton (R-AR)
• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• Thom Tillis (R-NC)
• John Kennedy (R-LA)

Other heavy hitters in states without legalized sports betting, such as Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), also sit on the committee and should provide valuable insights into how they view sports betting legalization for their prospective states.

SAFE Bet Act Likely to be Discussed

The committee will likely discuss, or at least bring up, a piece of legislation introduced earlier this year by Sen. Blumenthal. The SAFE Bet Act is a piece of legislation designed to reduce gambling addiction, gambling related harms, and establish minimum federal standards for sports betting advertisements and use of artificial intelligence.

The SAFE Bet Act would require states to apply with the Department of Justice to offer sports betting and would establish penalties for those who do not comply. States with an existing sports betting program would have to come into compliance with the SAFE Bet Act within one year of enactment.

A large part of the SAFE Bet Act will be to set national advertising standards for sports betting operators. Restrictions will be placed on advertisements to limit them to times and spaces where children are not likely to be in the audience. Restrictions will also be set on celebrities endorsing particular sportsbooks or ad types, similar to Canadian restrictions that prohibit athletes and celebrities from endorsing sports betting companies.

Under the legislation, sports betting advertisements would be banned from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., be prohibited from airing during live sporting events, and prohibits ads designed to induce use of gambling products by showing customers how to gamble or explaining how wagers work.

The proposed act has already gathered large amounts of criticism from the sports betting industry. Immediately after its introduction, iDevelopment & Economic Association (iDEA), an association representing the interests of the regulated U.S. online gaming and sports betting industry, published a statement in opposition of the SAFE Bet Act.

“While we strongly support efforts to promote responsible gaming and player protections, this legislation represents an unnecessary and harmful federal overreach into an area that has been successfully regulated at the state level since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal sports betting ban in 2018.”

The American Gaming Association (AGA) also released a statement in opposition of the SAFE Bet Act, declaring it to be a “slap in the face to state legislatures and gaming regulators.”

“Today’s regulated sports wagering operators are contributing billions in state taxes across the U.S., protecting consumers from dangerous neighborhood bookies and illegal offshore websites, and working diligently with over 5,000 state and tribal regulators and other stakeholders to ensure a commitment to responsibility and positive play. Six years into legal sports betting, introducing heavy-handed federal prohibitions is a slap in the face to state legislatures and gaming regulators who have dedicated countless time and resources to developing thoughtful frameworks unique to their jurisdictions, and have continued to iterate as their marketplaces evolve,” Chris Cylke, senior vice president of government relations for the AGA, said.