In a statement released on Wednesday, the Coalition For Responsible Sports Betting Advertising announced it had been formed and included the major professional sports leagues, featuring the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, WNBA and NASCAR.
The coalition aims to promote a "responsible approach to sports betting advertising," stating, "As the legalization of sports betting spreads nationwide, we feel it is critical to establish guardrails around how sports betting should be advertised to consumers across the United States."
As the legalization of sports betting has continued to progress nationwide, the effort to get a greater percentage of the market share for sports betting companies has resulted in the relentless sports betting advertisements that you see in just about every single sporting event.
Each major American sporting league also has a partnership with a sports betting company at this point, and most have multiple partnerships, which serve different purposes.
The newly formed coalition outlined six key principles that are crucial for implementing and maintaining responsible consumer protection policies with regards to sports betting advertisements:
• Sports betting should be marketed only to adults of legal betting age.
• Sports betting advertising should not promote irresponsible or excessive gambling or degrade the consumer experience.
• Sports betting advertisements should not be misleading.
• Sports betting advertisements should be in good taste.
• Publishers should have appropriate internal reviews of sports betting advertising.
• Publishers should review consumer complaints pertaining to sports betting advertising.
While it's to be determined what the impact of this effort will be, and it's true that some of this language is vague, the formation of this coalition and a concerted effort towards responsible sports betting advertising is a good thing.
The evolution of sports betting in the United States has meant issues regarding problem gambling have continued to grow — even before PASPA was repealed in 2018.
Commercial revenue in the United States from sports betting was $7.5 billion per data from the American Gaming Association. With the stakes getting higher and higher, it will become even more important to combat the negative side of the industry.
For resources regarding responsible gaming, you can check out this page, which highlights a number of strategies, resources and methods towards betting in a responsible way.
Sports betting can be a fun activity, but it is incredibly important to stick to doing it in a responsible way and to protect yourself from putting yourself at risk of problems.
The National Problem Gambling Helpline is available at all times at 1-800-522-4700.
