Latest Gambling News: New York Governor Signs Problem Gambling Legislation, and more

Catch up on six of the stories our gambling compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.

New York Governor Signs Problem Gambling Legislation

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, signed legislation Tuesday (October 1) that requires all advertisements for gambling and sports betting to include warnings about the potential harmful and addictive effects of gambling.

Previously, state law required that each advertisement must clearly and conspicuously post a problem gambling hotline number, where the new legislation clarifies that mobile sports-betting advertisements are subject to the same conditions that apply to other gaming advertisements.

“I’m confident that with the signing of this new bill, New Yorkers will have easier access to the safety resources they need to better protect themselves from the grips of addiction,” Hochul said in a statement.

In addition to requiring warnings, the legislation (S1550/A118) also requires the New York State Gaming Commission to cooperate with the commissioner of Addiction Services and Support to ensure that all gaming advertisements clearly post the problem gambling hotline number.

“While the Gaming Commission already requires sports wagering operators to include problem gambling messaging on all advertisements, we are encouraged that this common-sense measure has been codified into state law,” said NYSGC chairman Brian O’Dwyer.

The legislation takes effect 60 days from signing, which is November 30.

Michigan Bills Set Aside More Problem Gambling Funds

A package of bills that would increase the amount of funding to help problem gamblers have been passed in the Michigan legislature.

Senate Bills 926, 933, and 934 would increase the annual deposits into the Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund from various lottery and gaming revenues from $2m to $6m. Senate Bill 931 amends the state law to account for the increased deposits into the fund.

According to the bills, the lottery’s contribution would increase from $1m to $2m, with online sports betting contributions increasing from $500,000 to $1m and iGaming’s contribution jumping from $5,000 to $3m.

Kevin Koorstra, a fiscal analyst with the House Fiscal Agency, said the additional $4m would allow the state's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to add additional staff, support the problem gambling helpline, and provide additional prevention services.

The additional $4m has already been appropriated in the fiscal year 2024-25 DHHS budget, Koorstra said.

Gambling Prohibitions Are Ineffective, NCAA Committee Says

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) met earlier this month to discuss the potential deregulation of sports betting, which could allow student-athletes to wager on professional sports.

Currently, if the NCAA sponsors a sport, NCAA student-athletes are not permitted to bet on professional, intercollegiate or other amateur competition in that sport.

For student-athletes who are found to have violated NCAA rules, various penalties can be applied, which include partial to permanent losses of eligibility.

“CSMAS noted that, in general, prohibitions are ineffective at stopping unwanted gambling behaviors, and there is little evidence to suggest that current prohibitions have effectively prevented student-athlete gambling,” the NCAA said in a statement released Tuesday (October 1).

Additionally, initial feedback from CSMAS emphasized harm-reduction strategies, including ways schools can prevent, identify and create referral and treatment pathways for student-athletes who exhibit problem gambling.

Kenyan Parliament Told To Expedite Gambling Control Bill

Kenya’s parliament has been urged to expedite the Gambling Control Bill 2023 as the regulator faces several challenges, including underage gambling.

The bill, which provides a new regulatory framework and would replace the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) with a new and more powerful regulator, was submitted by the government to the Kenyan National Assembly in October 2023; however, it has made little progress since.

Arthur Osiya, the principal administrative secretary for the President’s office, urged the National Assembly’s Committee on Sports and Culture to speed up the enacting of the bill on September 26, according to local media reports.

The BCLB also needs KS500m (€3.5m) to develop and implement a central monitoring system (CMS) to improve oversight of the gambling activity in the country and improve revenue collection, Osiya said.

He stated that more than 80 percent of gambling activities in Kenya now occur online, making it difficult for the regulator to prevent underage gambling or to adequately collect tax revenue.

Despite this challenge, Osiya said the BCLB has collected KS88.4bn in taxes over the past five years for the Treasury, having only been allocated KS531m over the same period.

Committee chair Daniel Sitati said he would support Osiya’s recommendations to ensure the Treasury provides a sufficient budget for the BCLB.

AGA Finds Gaming Executives Positive On Current Business Conditions

U.S. gaming industry executives continue to hold an overall positive view of the current business climate, even in the face of slowing revenue expansion, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA) Gaming Industry Outlook.

The AGA’s outlook released Tuesday (October 1) found an overwhelming majority of respondents, 88 percent, view the current state of the industry as either good or satisfactory.

Meanwhile, executives have a more conservative outlook on future business conditions, with respondents split on whether they expect conditions to improve over the next three to six months (3 percent net positive) and many expecting a decrease in customer activity (28 percent net negative).

“After years of very strong consumer gaming spending growth, expectations around customer activity over the next three to six months have cooled considerably,” said David Forman, AGA vice president of research.

“Still, gaming businesses remain well positioned, with executives touting strong balance sheets and more viewing access to credit as easy than restrictive for the first time in two years.”  

Since early in the year, gaming executives’ sentiment has shifted, with a greater number of respondents now expecting a decline in customer activity over the next three to six months. Currently, that number is 28 percent net negative, up from 4 percent in the first quarter.

Indiana Regulator Fines BetRivers $54,000

Rush Street Interactive, the parent company of BetRivers, has agreed to pay a $54,000 fine to settle an Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) complaint for prohibited participant list errors.

The agreement settles two complaints, including an error regarding a prohibited participant list shared between the French Lick Resort Casino and BetRivers resulted in a patron being able to deposit $3,734.25, wager $13,659.56, win $11,976.09, and withdraw $2,054.06.

According to the IGC, the unnamed customer was able to gamble from January 12 through January 23, 2024.

“While investigating an ‘exclusion handling error’ with the uploaded prohibited participant list, BetRivers realized that the list being uploaded did not have the required file name,” the IGC found.

A second error with the shared prohibited participant list resulted in the removal of 175 excluded persons even though the individuals remained active prohibited participants by the commission.

BetRivers has described the incidents as errors with processing the exclusion list. As part of the settlement, BetRivers has also disabled the automated email that was generated to a patron when removed from the list.

The company also submitted a “correction action plan” with the commission on what procedures or controls have been put into place to make sure these violations do not occur again.

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