Regulators start to take note of gambling industry’s big push to draw more customers The gambling industry’s deluge of sports-betting ads and free-money offers on television, radio and online, is beginning to concern regulators. Online gambling operators, such as DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Group, are spending hundreds of millions of dollars, and large shares of their revenues, on marketing, putting sports wagering in front of the American consumer. The push includes celebrity-filled TV commercials, advertising on billboards and podcasts, and...

Because gambling is quite popular in our society, many teenagers try out different gambling activities, including poker, dice, scratch cards and sports betting, among others. Few adults and adolescents are aware of the risks associated with excessive gambling, which is expressed by a gradual loss of control over gambling behavior. Learn more here:  HS_Fact_Sheet.pdf (ncpgambling.org)

International Game Technology PLC (“IGT”) (NYSE: IGT) announced today that its world-class PlaySports platform footprint will expand into Wisconsin through an agreement to power sports betting at Oneida Casino, on the Oneida Nation Reservation.  Read more here.

Follow the money. Back in 2015, commissioner Roger Goodell said the league opposed legalized sports gambling. “We’ve been very open about our position that we oppose legalized sports gambling. We haven’t changed our position on that. I don’t anticipate us changing that going forward at all,” he said then. Now, the league has official sportsbook partners.  Read more here.    

Calls to Virginia gambling hotline spiked once sports betting started in January. Not only have calls more than doubled in the first four months of this year compared to last year, but 64% of the calls in March, April and May were from men. More than half of the calls, or 56%, involved sports betting and/or gambling machines.  Read more here.

The National Council on Problem Gambling said the situation with online betting needs to be addressed. “We’ve seen an increasingly wide expansion of online gambling during the pandemic, including sports betting, Lottery, and social gambling, as well as various methods of cashless payment,” the Council said in a statement. “We expect this to escalate as more state governments face budget shortfalls in the next two years. Protecting consumers who gamble, as well as their families, needs to be part of...

Online gambling has some features that increase the likelihood of developing a gambling problem or make an existing gambling problem worse. These features include:3 constant availability and ease of access that allow people to play for long periods without interruption the ability to play in isolation use of credit card and digital payments that make it easy to spend money highly interactive and immersive environments that may cause players to lose track of time and money It has been argued...

It IS Gambling Many of America’s casino operators and gambling regulators openly describe Daily Fantasy Sports as “gambling.” MGM Casinos Chairman Jim Murren recently said those who argue that daily fantasy games are not gambling are “absolutely, utterly wrong.” Murren added, “I don’t know how to run a football team, but I do know how to run a casino, and this is gambling.” Even the people who run online Daily Fantasy Sports sites privately admit they are running a gambling...

The COVID-19 pandemic is driving new patterns (and increasing established patterns) of substance use and compulsive behaviors. People who gamble regularly online are doing so just as often or more frequently during the coronavirus pandemic. Alcohol sales are up more than 60 percent and opioid overdoses have skyrocketed. Recent reports show that online gambling services have exploded in popularity, which could lead to a subsequent increase in gambling addiction. You don’t know when it will go from “just fun” to...

BELOIT, Wis. (WMTV) -The Ho-Chunk Nation’s Beloit Casino is taking another step forward after receiving approval from Governor Tony Evers. Evers announced Wednesday he concurred with the U.S. Department of Interior’s 2020 decision on taking 33-acres of land into trust to develop the casino. The land trust is part of a nearly 74-acre site, located just north of the Illinois border, that would be transformed into a casino-resort complex. Officials say it would also create more than 1,500 long-term jobs and more...