The bill would ban sports betting ads during games and ban betting on college athletes.

Wayne Parry
| Associated Press Press Agency

Atlantic City, New Jersey — The federal government is poised to ban in-game advertising and betting on college athletes under a sports betting bill introduced by two northeastern state lawmakers.

Rep. Paul Tonko of New York and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced the bill Thursday, which aims to address what they call the harmful effects of the rapid expansion of legal sports betting in the U.S. since 2018.

The measure would also ban the use of credit cards to fund online gambling accounts.

Democratic lawmakers say sports betting, now legal in 38 states plus the District of Columbia, has increased gambling addiction and other problems. Every moment of every game is a chance to gamble, Tonko said.

“This has led to a terrifying increase in gambling disorders, which in turn has had a terrible impact on individuals, many of whom have lost their homes, their jobs, their marriages and their lives,” Tonko said.

Blumenthal called the decision a public health issue.

“This is about stopping addiction, saving lives and making sure that young people in particular are protected from exploitation,” Blumenthal said.

The legislation is already facing strong opposition from the gambling industry, which has argued for years that it should self-regulate sports betting advertising to avoid having standards imposed on it by the federal government.

The American Gaming Association, the national gaming industry trade association, said bookmakers already operate under government supervision, pay billions of dollars in state taxes and offer consumers protections not available to illegal gambling operations.

“After six years of legal sports betting, the introduction of strict federal prohibitions is a slap in the face to state legislators and gaming regulators who have devoted countless amounts of time and resources to developing thoughtful frameworks unique to their jurisdictions,” the statement said.

The sports betting industry has adopted practices that include some restrictions on advertising, but critics say they do not go far enough.

Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law, compared gambling to drugs and alcohol in terms of its potential for addiction.

“With any other addictive product or substance, the government regulates the advertising, promotion, distribution and consumption of the product,” he said. “With gambling, unfortunately, the exact opposite happens.”

The National Council on Problem Gambling states that “problem gambling may be on the rise as sports betting continues to surge” across America.

The bill would prohibit operators from accepting more than five deposits from a customer in 24 hours, and would also check whether a customer is able to deposit more than $1,000 in 24 hours or $10,000 in a month.

The bill would also ban “prop” betting on the performance of college and amateur athletes, such as the number of passing yards a quarterback will gain during a game.

The legislation would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to track customers’ gambling habits or create gambling products, including highly granular “micro-bets” that are based on scenarios as narrow as the speed of the next pitch in a baseball game.