CT leaders call for tougher sports betting rules amid NBA cheating scandal
Both Republicans and Democrats say the sprawling NBA sports betting scandal is more proof that the multibillion-dollar industry needs more regulation.
More Stories
The sports betting scandal rocking the National Basketball Association now has Connecticut lawmakers – on both sides of the aisle – calling for new restrictions on the multibillion-dollar industry.
BIG MONEY
Wagering on your favorite team is literally in the palm of your hand. Between three mobile phone apps and more than dozen in-person sites across the state, sports betting is a massive money-maker.
How big?
In Connecticut, gamblers wagered nearly a quarter billion dollars in September alone, according to the Department of Consumer Protection. The state first legalized sports betting in 2021.
But as the NBA season opens, the league faces a sprawling sports betting cheating scandal involving at least one coach and a player.
“My message to the defendants who’ve been rounded up today is this,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella. “Your winning streak has ended. Your luck has run out.”
“SAFE BET ACT”
The scandal is renewing calls from Connecticut politicians for tougher regulations on the rapidly growing industry. He believes that “prop bets” on individual players and game stats can be too easily manipulated.
“Hundreds of thousands of people lost money on bets they placed,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
The Democratic senator is pushing Congress to pass the SAFE Bet Act. It would ban all wagers once a game starts, as well as prop bets on any college and amateur matches.
“You can bet on prop bets every 30 seconds, every minute,” said Valerie Tebbetts, with the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. “They come out all throughout the game. It keeps you tied to the app.”
Blumenthal’s legislation would also limit sports betting advertising, and stop platforms from using artificial intelligence algorithms to targeting users with “bonus bets” and odds boosts.
“AI has become a powerful tool that enables sports betting companies to target and exploit individual bettors with micro-bets,” he told reporters. “The indictments yesterday highlight the dangers of corruption, but the problems of addiction are equally pressing.”
ACTION IN HARTFORD?
Until now, Blumenthal’s SAFE Bet Act faced long odds in Congress. In Hartford, some state lawmakers don’t want to wait on Washington to act.
"Particularly in-game gambling, in which you’re betting on a strike or a basket made, is volatile and highly addictive,” said state Sen. Tony Hwang (R-Fairfield).
Hwang believes the state needs to allocate more money to gambling addiction resources, as potentially look at more rules for all betting apps, including online table games.
“Now, they don’t need to go to the casinos,” he said. “They can go to their phone, in the privacy and the quiet solitude and the isolation, to be able to pay these games.”
