WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ahead of Responsible Gaming Education Week 2021, the New York Jets have joined the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Have A Game Plan.^® Bet Responsibly.™ public service campaign. The Jets will encourage their fans to “Know When to Huddle Up” through in-stadium and digital content that promote responsible sports wagering.

“The fan experience is at the heart of everything we do, and as legal sports betting expands, we want to ensure Jets fans are empowered to wager responsibly,” said New York Jets Vice President, Business Development & Ventures Jeff Fernandez. “We are proud to partner with the AGA on this important initiative.”

Recent AGA research found that due to expanded sports betting legalization and high fan enthusiasm for the season, a record 45.2 million Americans (18%) will wager on this year’s NFL season, a 36% increase from the 2020 NFL season. Among NFL fans, 37 percent plan to wager on the 2021 NFL season, including 47 percent of self-described avid NFL fans.

“Leadership from professional sports teams like the Jets is critical to not only ensuring fans understand how to wager responsibly, but also getting sports betting right,” said AGA Senior Vice President Casey Clark. “We’re thrilled to welcome the team as a partner and value their commitment to prioritizing responsible sports betting education for their loyal fanbase.”

The AGA launched Have A Game Plan in late 2019 to educate sports fans on the principles of responsible sports betting. The Jets join campaign partners DraftKings, FanDuel, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, NASCAR, NHL, PGA TOUR, SeventySix Capital, Sightline Payments, Sinclair Broadcast Group, UFC, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Washington Football Team.

The New York Jets were an early adopter of gaming partnerships after the State of New Jersey approved legalized sports betting in June 2018. The Jets have a long-standing relationship with BetMGM and have recently added new sports betting partnerships with Fubo Sportsbook and WynnBet.

AGA’s Responsible Gaming Education Week, from September 19-25, educates consumers on responsible game play and highlights responsible gaming’s central role in gaming and sports betting.

Sports betting is currently legal and operational in 26 states and the District of Columbia. During the NFL season, five additional states are expected to launch legal markets. The NFL has a long-standing partnership with the National Council on Problem Gambling.

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Academics, gambling regulators, and the gambling industry increasingly espouse a shared responsibility view of preventing gambling harm. This view considers individual gamblers and external stakeholders, such as casino employees, to be jointly responsible for minimizing gambling harm. But do individual gamblers share this view?

This presentation will review three years of cross-sectional surveys with participants sampled from the (MGM) MLife customer loyalty program database. In the most recent survey, fielded in January 2020 with 4,336 MLife subscribers, we observed that most participants only held individual gamblers responsible for helping prevent gambling harm. Put another way, most participants held a purely internal responsibility viewpoint. However, those who screened positive on the Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen (BBGS) were more likely than those who screened negative to hold a shared responsibility viewpoint and holding a diffuse sense of responsibility for minimizing gambling harm predicted BBGS status over and above traditional individual-level risk factors. These findings echo the previous two years of survey findings with largely non-overlapping samples. Additionally, for the first time, we observed that those who screened positive on the BBGS were more likely than their counterparts to deny personal responsibility for minimizing gambling harm to individual gamblers; that is, they were more likely to hold a purely external responsibility viewpoint.

This webinar will discuss the implications of these findings for health promotion and best practices for message design in responsible gambling programs.

Last year during Responsible Gaming Education Week, the AGA introduced the enforcement process for the Responsible Marketing Code for Sports Wagering. Join us on Wednesday, September 22 at 2 pm ET for an overview on how to align your marketing, advertising, and communications with the code.

As an important focus of the AGA’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee, a subset of the AGA membership convenes as the Responsible Gaming Task Force. The Responsible Gaming Task Force focuses on elevating responsible gaming as a key priority for the industry; solidifying AGA and its members as the leading advocate; and shaping policies that are more favorable to innovation and consumer protection.

As an important focus of the AGA’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee, a subset of the AGA membership convenes as the Responsible Gaming Task Force. The Responsible Gaming Task Force focuses on elevating responsible gaming as a key priority for the industry; solidifying AGA and its members as the leading advocate; and shaping policies that are more favorable to innovation and consumer protection.

As an important focus of the AGA’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee, a subset of the AGA membership convenes as the Responsible Gaming Task Force. The Responsible Gaming Task Force focuses on elevating responsible gaming as a key priority for the industry; solidifying AGA and its members as the leading advocate; and shaping policies that are more favorable to innovation and consumer protection.

Does stigmatizing language cause drop-out from addiction treatment? Does it keep gamblers from taking advantage of responsible gambling (RG) tools? The American Society of Addiction Medicine has led the way in proposing non- stigmatizing language for use by treatment professionals. Similarly, researchers working on Positive Play, a responsible gambling approach, have proposed changes in the language and concepts of RG. This session will provide treatment providers and responsible gambling professionals guidance on how to improve communication with clients and gamblers.

Despite its widespread use, the concept of “responsible gambling” lacks a clear definition. Consequently, debate and confusion surround the respective government, regulator, industry operator, individual, and community accountability as these stakeholders attempt to develop strategies, policies, and procedures that will protect consumers by minimizing gambling-related harms. Dr. Blaszczynski will advance the argument that stakeholders should define responsible gambling as an outcome instead of an activity or process. Responsible gambling exists when individuals gamble within personally affordable limits.

Presenter: Alex Blaszczynski, PhD, University of Sydney

As an important focus of the AGA’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee, a subset of the AGA membership convenes as the Responsible Gaming Task Force. The Responsible Gaming Task Force focuses on elevating responsible gaming as a key priority for the industry; solidifying AGA and its members as the leading advocate; and shaping policies that are more favorable to innovation and consumer protection.

As an important focus of the AGA’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee, a subset of the AGA membership convenes as the Responsible Gaming Task Force. The Responsible Gaming Task Force focuses on elevating responsible gaming as a key priority for the industry; solidifying AGA and its members as the leading advocate; and shaping policies that are more favorable to innovation and consumer protection.