In an interview with Legal Sports Report Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling criticized the way most states have legalized sports betting in an industry that is just being launched in the U.S.
The interview was done as Whyte was scheduled to be a speaker at Betting on Sports America in New York City in April.
“I think they’ve done relatively poorly,” Whyte said. “We’re commissioning an assessment of the state of responsible gaming provisions against our five minimum responsible gaming standards for sports betting legislation that we’ve put out there. And I think it’s only New Jersey I believe that’s hit all five.”
He added, “But we’re still working hard to try and get as much in there as possible because I think in the long run, not only does it help problem gamblers, but it absolutely benefits operators and it benefits the state. Good responsible gambling saves government considerable health care and criminal justice costs and increases the sustainability of this expanded gaming segment.”
Whyte criticizes states for not setting aside enough of the new government taxes of sports betting for treatment or responsible gaming provisions. “Perhaps in many of these states they don’t have advanced or modern responsible gambling provisions for their existing casino, lottery or racing operations,” he told Legal Sports Report.
He argued that there is a “perverse incentive or a disincentive” to not study the prevalence of problem gambling because it would show that there is a distinct percentage of people who are problem gamblers and that their numbers will increase if they are given more opportunities to gamble. “Right now problem gamblers are a little bit out of sight out of mind, and some state legislators seem to want to keep it that way,” he said.
The council considers that sports wagering has “significant differences” to other forms of gaming that requires additional research “to help everyone determine the best ways to minimize harm so we all maximize benefit,” said Whyte. He noted that most sports betting will be done on mobile platforms or the internet, which are associated with higher rates of problems with young men. “The combination of increased access, increased advertising and increased action in some of these sports betting products may well have higher risk,” he said.
The opportunity exists to use the technology to provide more responsible gaming, he said. “We absolutely believe and have long held you can perhaps provide a safer gambling experience with account-based, online wagering and certainly there’s a lot of potential in both this new technology and big data to deliver a more customized, personalized responsible gambling experience,” said Whyte.
