Legislators Tighten Laws around Gambling Advertisement

The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, has spoken about tightening some laws around online gambling advertisements. The new bill would address some of the concerns from the public that gambling addiction could get out of control. Compared to other states, New Yorkers don't suffer from gambling addiction nearly as much with less than 1% of the population being addicted to gambling. The new bill is the latest evolution to happen to gambling legislation in the United States, and other states could soon follow suit with the passing of this bill.

Understanding the Legislation

Bill S1550/A1118 would require that all gambling advertisement, which includes mobile sports betting, display a clear warning about the dangers of gambling addiction. All of this would go on to reduce the harmful effects that gambling addiction could potentially have on the population of New York. Other states have passed similar laws to address the potential dangers.

All of the legislation under Bill S1150/A1118 would add to previous regulations already made about this subject. In the past, New York only required that you display a problem gambling hotline number in advertisements, and the bill never covered the risk of online gambling.

Signed into Law: What It Means

Governor Hochul signed the bill into law saying that she wanted New Yorkers to enjoy activities that they love without harmful effects. The United States before this point has seen spikes in gambling addiction. Many lawmakers point out that some of this increase could have to do with the fact that many advertisers create aggressive campaigns, which may be the biggest cause of the sudden spikes in gambling.

Several other bills have been proposed, but New York State has been the first to pass such a significant bill, which will have an impact on legislation across the United States.

Bill Passed After Legislature Introduced the SAFE Bet Act

Just a few weeks before the bill around gambling advertisements was signed into law, the state legislature introduced another bill known as the SAFE Bet Act. This new bill would transform what online legislation looks like for New York State. The new bill would move regulation of online gambling over to the federal government. Many support increasing the amount of regulation around online gambling to put safety measures in place that would prevent gambling addiction.

Those opposed to the SAFE Bet Act say that if they decide to move legislation over to the federal government, it would waste all the time and resources spent on the state level. The SAFE Bet Act won't likely pass because of this, but it could spur other states into supporting more federal regulation.

Final Thoughts

Bill S1550/A1118 may or may not have an impact because a lot of people ignore warning labels. However, this could doubtlessly send legislation in a certain direction in the future with more states passing the same laws. Many states are already looking for ways that they can keep online gambling positive without the dangers of it.