Mark your calendar for the 6th annual Regulator Roundtable presented by the American Gaming Association (AGA) taking place on Thursday, October 8 from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM PDT / 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM EDT. Due to the cancellation of Global Gaming Expo 2020, this year’s Regulatory Roundtable will be held in a virtual format.
The Roundtable offers a great opportunity for regulators and other stakeholders to hear from colleagues about the latest regulatory developments and challenges in various states. The program for this year is anticipated to include a fireside chat with a prominent industry pioneer, insight from the regulatory community on how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the gaming industry, and discussion around responsible gaming and sports betting
Today, the American Gaming Association (AGA) released the following statement after the D.C. Council passed the “Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018” (Bill 22-944).
“We are encouraged by the D.C. Council’s vote today to authorize sports wagering in the District. This decision represents a step in the right direction when it comes to protecting consumers and the integrity of sports,” said Sara Slane, AGA’s senior vice president of public affairs. “We’re pleased the bill adheres to a number of AGA’s priorities for successful sports betting legislation, including promoting responsible gaming, instituting a reasonable tax rate and excluding any ‘integrity fees’ or ‘exclusive data fees,’ which have been rightfully rejected in every other jurisdiction that has enacted sports betting legislation.
“While the vote today is progress, we remain deeply concerned about giving the lottery a virtual monopoly in the mobile market. Predictably, this will result in less investment and innovation, to the detriment of consumers and the ability of a nascent legal marketplace to compete with the accessibility and convenience offered by many established illegal wagering operations. AGA urges District policymakers to reevaluate the merits of this key aspect of their framework and allow greater competition in the future. AGA remains available to serve as a resource to the District and any other jurisdiction looking to create legal sports betting markets, protecting consumers and generating economic benefits in the process.”
State of the Industry
August 17, 2021 | 9:30 – 10:30 AM
Featured AGA Speaker:
Jess Feil
Vice President, Government Relations & Gaming Policy Counsel
American Gaming Association
Responsible Play & Marketing
August 17, 2021 | 10:45 – 11:45 AM
Featured AGA Speaker:
Cait DeBaun
Vice President, Strategic Communications & Responsibility
American Gaming Association
The American Gaming Association released the following statement after Gov. Whitmer signed a bill to legalize sports betting in Michigan:
“With Gov. Whitmer’s signature, twenty states plus DC have now legalized sports betting in the United States, capping off a tremendous year of growth,” said Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. “These new markets offer more Americans a safe, legal way to wager on sports while positively impacting communities, like in Michigan, where revenue from sports betting will generate needed resources for public education, first responders, and, importantly, responsible gaming.”
The American Gaming Association released the following statement after Governor Roy Cooper signed S. 154 – a bill which enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support – to authorize sports betting at two tribal casinos in North Carolina. With Gov. Cooper’s signature, the Tarheel State becomes the 19th jurisdiction in America to authorize sports betting.
“Legalizing sports betting in North Carolina is a welcome step in the fight against the dangerous, illegal market,” said Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. “Providing North Carolinians with legal alternatives to illicit offshore operators will help safeguard consumers and the integrity of the games, advance responsible gaming initiatives and give state and federal law enforcement an advantage in combating illegal gambling.”
Supporting the Legal Sports Betting Market
Since the federal ban was overturned in 2018, states and sovereign tribal nations have had the opportunity to establish frameworks for legal sports betting, which protect consumers and create tax benefits for local communities.
Embracing America’s Passion Through Effective Regulation
In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a decades-old federal law that prevented states other than Nevada from allowing legal, regulated wagers on collegiate and professional sports. This federal prohibition inadvertently created a massive illegal market — along with a myriad of associated public policy problems.
The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision was a win for millions of Americans who seek to participate in sports wagering in a safe, legal and regulated manner. States and tribal nations can now set their own policies to legalize and regulate sports betting in an effective manner that protects consumers and creates tax benefits for local communities.
Since May 2018, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., and has generated more than $2.45 billion in federal, state and local taxes.* This tax revenue funds infrastructure, education, responsible gaming education, problem gambling services, and other core priorities.
*Based on AGA’s compilation of state gaming regulator reporting and estimates of federal excise tax.
Repealing Federal Excise Tax on Sports Betting
The Internal Revenue Code currently imposes a federal excise tax of 0.25 percent on the amount of any legal sports wager with a sportsbook, as well as an additional $50 annual head tax for every employee engaged in receiving wagers for or on behalf of any legal sports betting operator. This tax was established in the 1950s, not as a revenue source, but rather as a tool for prosecuting illegal bookmaking operations that didn’t pay the tax.
Currently, this tax serves no dedicated purpose and represents an added operating cost to legal sportsbooks that illegal operators do not pay, further impeding customers’ move away from the predatory, illegal market to safe, regulated sports betting channels. Congress can help empower the success of a safe, regulated marketplace by repealing the federal excise tax that unnecessarily disadvantages legal sports betting operations.
Resources
American Gaming Association (AGA) President and CEO Bill Miller issued the following statement following Tuesday’s election results that saw a ballot initiative legalize sports betting in Missouri:
“Missouri voters last night landed a knockout punch to illegal sportsbook operators in their state by voting to support sports betting legalization. With Amendment 2’s passage, Missourians will soon be able to bet on sports legally, with consumer protections, responsible gaming measures and expertise within reach, and tax revenues dedicated to public schools. We applaud these efforts and look forward to supporting the legal, regulated market operators upon launch in the Show Me State.”
The AGA’s survey on sports betting consumer behavior in 2019 shows that bettors are increasingly choosing legal sportsbooks over illegal operators when placing their wagers. In states with legal sports betting in 2019, past-year bettors reported:
12%
Increase in online and mobile betting spend with legal operators
25%
Decrease in spend with illegal bookies
3%
Increase in spend with offshore operators
The findings solidify the need for states to allow competitive alternatives to the illegal market, such as intrastate mobile wagering, which consumer polling shows is a primary factor in drawing customers away from unregulated and dangerous operators. Other key factors influencing conversion from the illegal to legal market were:
Migration from the illegal market would likely have been more pronounced if it wasn’t for sports bettors reporting widespread confusion between legal and illegal operators. Despite 74 percent of bettors saying it is important to only bet through legal providers, 52 percent of past-year bettors participated in the illegal market in 2019. 55 percent of consumers who placed most of their wagers with illegal operators reporting that they believed they were betting legally.
These results highlight the need for further consumer education on how and why to bet legally. The AGA is taking action by educating bettors on responsible gaming, educating the media on the pervasive effects of legitimizing offshore operators, and maintaining a directory of licensed online and retail sportsbooks in states with legal sports betting.
“Illegal, offshore operators continue to take advantage of unknowing consumers. This only worsened during the [COVID-19] sports shutdown, with unregulated bookmakers offering odds on everything from the weather and shark migration patterns to whether your friends’ marriage will survive the pandemic. The AGA is focused on educating customers on how to wager legally and about the dangers of the illegal market.”
- Bill Miller, President and CEO, American gaming Association
Methodology
Heart + Mind Strategies conducted this survey on behalf of the AGA between December 2019 and January 2020. The survey includes 3,451 interviews among American adults over 21-years-old of various subgroups.
AGA Senior Vice President Joe Maloney issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing America’s High-Stakes Bet on Legalized Sports Gambling taking place on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
“Today’s hearing notably lacked an industry witness. This unfortunate exclusion leaves the Committee and the overall proceeding bereft of testimony on how legal gaming protects consumers from the predatory illegal market and its leadership in promoting responsible gaming and safeguarding integrity. We remain committed to robust state regulatory frameworks that protect consumers, promote responsibility, and preserve integrity of athletic competition.”
Five years after the end of the federal ban on sports betting, American Gaming Association (AGA) research shows that Americans overwhelmingly support legal sports betting:
- 85 percent of American adults agree with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), compared to 63 percent in 2019.
- 77 percent of American adults support legalization in their state of residence.
- 78 percent of bettors place all or most bets through regulated operators.
- 77 percent of online sports bets are now placed through regulated operators, compared to just 44 percent in 2019.
Bettor Migration to Legal Sportsbooks
As the legal market grows, it is increasingly attracting and retaining customers from illegal bookies and offshore operators:
Consumer Awareness
Compared to five years ago, consumers have a significantly better understanding of the legal status of sports betting in their state, however, survey results also point to continued need for consumer education:
- Only 29 percent of American adults say they are unsure of the legality of online sportsbooks in their state, a 45 percent decrease since 2018.
- Yet, 70 percent of sports bettors who placed most of their bets with illegal operators believed they were betting either exclusively with legal sportsbooks or splitting their bets evenly between legal and illegal operators.
Consumer confusion is in part attributable to illegal offshore sites misrepresenting their legal status by marketing themselves as regulated sites:
Making an Impact
Since May 2018, Americans have legally wagered $220 billion nationwide, generating $3 billion in state and local taxes for education, healthcare, infrastructure, responsible gaming and problem gambling resource funding and more.
“Five years post-PASPA, the AGA and our members continue to support responsibly expanding the legal market while cracking down on predatory illegal operators. The regulated industry and our partners across the entire ecosystem—policymakers, law enforcement, regulators, leagues, media, technology providers and more—have made significant strides in our collaborative consumer education efforts since 2018, and we will continue to find new ways to enhance consumer protections as the market matures.” – AGA President and CEO Bill Miller