New U.S. federal sportsbetting bill emerges

A new bipartisan U.S. Federal sports betting bill emerged Wednesday.

The Federal bill authored by New York Democrat Senator Charles Schumer and soon-to-retire Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah would have the regulation of sportsbetting fall under minimum standards set by the U.S. Justice Department.

Other provisions in the bill include:

Utilisation of Federal sports betting taxes to fund problem gambling.

The establishment of a nationwide self-exclusion list.

Betting on the Olympics and college sports would be permitted, but amateur sports betting banned.

Sports wagering operators would be required to use data provided or licensed by the leagues and a National Sports Wagering Clearinghouse would be established to disseminate sports wagering data and suspicious transaction reports among operators, state regulators, sports organisations and federal and state law enforcement.

“I knew that Congress had an obligation to ensure that the integrity of the games we love was never compromised,” Schumer said of the Sports Wagering Market Integrity Act of 2018. “That is why I believe the time is now to establish a strong national integrity standard for sports betting that will protect consumers and the games themselves from corruption”.

“The legislation we’ve introduced today is the culmination of eight months of high-level meetings, discussions, and negotiations, and will serve as a placeholder for the next Congress, should they decide to continue working to address these issues,” Hatch added.

The bill has reportedly received the support of the NFL, ESPN reports.  Jocelyn Moore, executive vice president of the NFL, in a letter to the senators, said: “Without continued federal guidance and oversight, we are very concerned that sports leagues and state governments alone will not be able to fully protect the integrity of sporting contests and guard against the harms Congress has long recognized as being associated with sports betting.”

The MLB also weighed in saying: “Legalized sports betting is rapidly spreading across the country, creating a clear need for a set of consistent, nationwide integrity standards to protect the sports that millions of Americans love.”

Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have already legalised sports betting, while Washington awaits Congressional approval.

Other states Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Missouri and Tennessee have reportedly pre-filed bills for early 2019.

“No bet is ever a guaranteed win, but it’s a smart bet that I will strongly advocate for this bill to move forward and that Congress will vote to pass federal legislation very soon,” Schumer concluded.

Related and similar