On Tuesday 17th December 2024, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a sports betting public hearing in a bid to try get more transparency around the growing industry in the US and also to try and protect consumers and tackle some athletes getting harassed by gamblers.
Hearing Entitled “America’s High-Stakes Bet on Legalized Sports Gambling”
The hearing was put in place to talk about and discuss the quick growth of sports betting across the US.
With one of the main questions being whether the federal government needs to take a role in regulating sports betting, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in the past that individual states have the authority to make their own sports betting rules and govern the industry.
There were many concerns at the hearing that included the current state of the sports betting industry – with data collection from consumers suggesting that the dangers of gambling is high and how best to try and protect them.
Plus, also how to shield actual players and athletes from being bullied by gamblers into manipulating bets – mainly in College football, where this sort of thing would be easier to do.
American Gaming Association Senior Vice President Joe Maloney said on the hearing.
“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.”
The overall feeling about the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was that is was instructive and it now highlights that federal lawmakers will view the current state and growth of US sports betting.
That said, there is also a feeling this hearing is still a long way off getting the federal government to regulate sports betting across the board and all states, with it being likely that individual regions will fight back to continue to govern the industry within states.
Chair Of The Committee Dick Durbin Concluded “This Hearing On Sports Betting Was Not The End, But Only The Beginning”
How Will The Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Benefit US Offshore Betting Sites?
In short, there will be no quick benefit as it’s business as usual for the US offshore betting sites.
These companies are based away from the US, so don’t have to adhere to any set US State gambling rules and laws – meaning they are often turned to by bettors looking to wager in banned betting States, like Texas and California.
However, if further down the line there are more restrictions in place – especially on things like prop bets, then the US Offshore betting sites will only reap the rewards with restricted players turning to them to get their bets placed.
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On The ‘Growth In Sports Betting’
Another aspect of the hearing focused mainly on college sports, which led to NCAA president Charlie Baker being called as a witness.
Baker had appeared in front of Congress back in October 2024 to reveal his thoughts and findings on the state of college sports in general as his team had conducted a survey in the recent years.
Over 50% Of 18-22 Year-Olds Bet On College Football
This survey was aimed at 18-22 year-olds in college and to learn more about their sports betting behaviours – with findings that showed over 50% of them were regular bettors on college football.
Which also led Baker to respond by saying the sports betting sites need to tackle the issue and take prop betting out of sports.
Prop bets are normally related to wagers that don’t relate to the outcome of a sporting event or match. These tend to focus around more specific events happening within a game – like how long the Super Bowl national anthem will last.
There are also player prop bets that will allow wagers to be placed on things like how many touchdowns a player will score, or the number of assists someone might get in a basketball match – or even how many shots on target a player might have in a soccer game.
In short, these prop bets are deemed the hardest to win but also make a lot of appeal to bettors – with the lure of winning more and having a more ‘fun’ wager on a game that might last the duration.
However, with many prop bets favouring the house, these are also see as a lucrative option for the sports betting companies in the US. Plus, some suggest that prop bets are more open to concerns with match fixing, that might include missed throws or interceptions.
