New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to fight the effects of problem gambling as pressure mounts on legislators to move on sports betting conversations.
The legislation requires all advertisements for gambling and sports betting to include warnings about the potentially harmful and addictive effects of gambling. This is a change from previous legislation, which required gambling advertisements to include a gambling hotline number.
Hochul's legislation follows developments at the federal level, as a new bill was introduced to propose a federal standard in the sports betting space. The SAFE Bet Act, introduced by Paul Tonko (NY) and Richard Blumenthal (CT), would require states to gain approval from the Justice Department to offer legal sports wagering.
In 2018, the Professional and Amateur Sports Betting Act of 1992 was ruled unconstitutional, granting authority back to the states with regard to legislating legal sports wagering.
The act goes as far as to outlaw prop bets and place a number of restrictions on advertisements, such as outlawing them during sporting events and between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. local time.
While Hochul's legislation is not as extreme, the legal sports betting market in the United States is facing serious pressure, with pundits and policy analysts alike noting the negative impact of legalizing sports betting and passing responsibility to the states.
As of writing, 38 states and Washington D.C. allow legal sports betting, while Missouri has active legislation pending.
New York's legislation represents a positive step in the reining in of the wild sports betting space, but there is a long way to go when it comes to establishing what the future of legal sports betting will look like in the United States.
