Mobile sports betting in New York is a hit. No surprise there. But problem gambling interventions have seen a concurrent increase. Anticipating the uptick, the state earmarked $6 million a year from its gaming tax revenues to help problem bettors, according to NY Online Gambling.
When a New York state resident gambles more than $2,500 in a given month at an online sportsbook, the sportsbook must put a hold on the account and contact the bettor to see if there is a problem. At that point, the sportsbook may unfreeze the account, and even reopen credit card transactions, but has to report the incident to the New York State Gaming Commission.
Gamblers who believe their habit is becoming an addiction can contact one of the problem gaming offices.
“You knew these calls were going to increase,” said State Senator Joe Addabbo. “We are finally in position to help these individuals, whereas before, we didn’t know who they were. There was this unknown population going across the bridges to New Jersey or Pennsylvania or doing it illegally.”
Some 2 percent of Americans, or about 6.6 million people, have issues with gambling addiction, according to the New York Times. In New York, the gambling commission indicates 668,000 residents deal with this problem.
In New Jersey, calls to that state’s gambling hotline involving sports betting fell between 4 percent and 8 percent before legalization and rose to 35 percent by 2020.
“As legislators, we have to stand ready to improve anything that needs improving in terms of mobile sports betting, whether that’s the mechanisms themselves or addiction issues,” Addabbo said.
In related news, a webinar led by Les Bernal, national director of Stop Predatory Gambling tackled a growing concern: gambling ads.
Titled America’s New Storm of Gambling Advertising: A Threat to Public Health, the webinar featured two panelists—Mark Gottlieb, executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute and Harry Levant, founder of the Ethical Gambling Reform Group. Gottlieb compared the situation to tobacco usage, according to BettingUSA.com. Both products are easy to conceal and designed to change behaviors. Both can cause latent harms that may take years to surface.
Sports betting is no longer a standalone product; instead, it’s woven into sporting events. Taken to its extreme, Gottlieb said social harms include
- Housing insecurity and homelessness
- Depression and suicide
- Debt
- Domestic violence
His solution? Reasonable restrictions on the industry to rein in these practices.
Harry Levant said the repeal of PASPA in 2018 created a public health crisis. Levant doesn’t trust self-regulation of the industry. He questions whether it makes for sound public policy.
A major sticking point related to the partnerships between gambling companies and teams, leagues, the media, and states. According to Levant, gambling hooks customers by having access to customers, keeping them in constant action, which will cause them to chase gambling highs and losses.
Advertising is everywhere, occurring at all hours, and routinely uses celebrity participants.
“Risk-free” bets are anything but, Levant said. “Customers who forego reading the fine print will discover that rather than a refund, they receive site credits, which leads to more bets and chasing.”
