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In March 2025, Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reintroduced the Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every (SAFE) Bet Act in both the Senate and House to create a federal oversight structure for state-authorized mobile sports betting.
The act was first introduced in September 2024 in both chambers of the 118th Congress, but was soon met with opposition from industry stakeholders and state representatives and later failed to pass through either chamber before legislative adjournment.
Despite the pushback over the proposed federal oversight, Tonko and Blumenthal are again promoting the SAFE Bet Act, this time with added consumer protection and responsible gambling restrictions.
The bigger picture
The SAFE Bet Act largely seeks to ensure states’ sports-betting regulations are aligned with federal minimum standards on marketing, affordability and artificial intelligence (AI) to, in part, “create a safer, less addictive product,” according to Rep. Tonko.
The act pre-empts state gaming regulatory frameworks and broadly prohibits sports wagering, instead requiring states to obtain permission from the federal government to offer legal sports betting.
States that have already authorized, or are seeking to authorize, sports betting would be required to request approval to administer a state sports wagering program by submitting an application to the U.S. attorney general and prove that they meet a number of requirements. If the application is approved, a state sports-wagering program is valid for a fixed three-year period. States seeking to continue offering sports betting would be required to submit a renewal application.
Once “opted in”, states are required to establish regulations for affordability checks, prohibit deposits by credit cards, prohibit prop bets on college and amateur athletes, and ban any advertising broadcasts between 8am and 10pm. The new version of the act introduced this year adds additional restrictions:
- No sportsbook marketing during live sporting events, and no programing designed to induce gambling with “bonus”, “no sweat,” “bonus bets,” or odds boosts.
- Operators are prohibited from accepting more than five deposits from a customer in a 24-hour period.
- Operators are required to conduct affordability checks on customers before accepting wagers in excess of $1,000 in a 24-hour period or $10,000 in a 30-day period, and prohibits operators from accepting deposits via credit card.
- Operators are prohibited from using AI to track player’s gambling habits and offer individualized promotions.
- Operators are prohibited from using AI to create gambling products, such as microbets.
The act also seeks to prohibit VIP programs. Specifically, sports wagering operators would not be allowed to offer compensation or provide cash, gambling credit, prizes, gifts, merchandise, event tickets or passes, or property that is directly or indirectly connected to the deposits, gambling wins or losses, or the level, amount, frequency, scope, pace, duration or rate of gambling activity of a player.
The use of VIP programs is a rising concern for lawmakers. In March 2024, prior to the first introduction of the SAFE Bet Act, Sen. Blumenthal wrote to several sports betting companies to demand they stop leveraging data to “encourage ‘high-value’ gamblers to continue spending money through exploitative bonuses, credits, and enticements”. Blumenthal also decried the use of VIP “hosts” — customer service representatives assigned to high-value bettors to provide a range of services such as one-on-one support, incentivized play, and access to specialized perks.
With a Republican-controlled House and a presidential administration focused on deregulation and government cutbacks, the twice-introduced SAFE Bet Act is unlikely to pass. However, the act has inspired similar legislative proposals in a number of states, indicating that the proposed restrictions set out in federal legislation have influenced state lawmakers to seek more restrictive approaches to their respective sports-betting regulatory frameworks.
In February 2025, an Illinois senator introduced Senate Bills (SB) 2398 and 2399, both of which borrow provisions from the SAFE Bet Act to impose affordability requirements and ban the use of AI by Illinois-licensed sports-betting operators.
Similar legislation based on the SAFE Bet Act has also been filed in Massachusetts. The “Bettor Health Act” outlines strict affordability controls, requiring operators to conduct an affordability assessment when a patron attempts to wager more than $1,000 per day or $10,000 per month. It also requires operators to ensure that daily or monthly amounts wagered do not exceed 15 percent of the amount a person has available in a bank account.
Elsewhere, Assembly Bill (AB) 7962 would enact similar changes to New York’s sports-betting regulatory framework. AB 7962 includes a $5,000 daily wagering and deposit limit for patrons, a prohibition on the use of credit cards as an account funding method, and a ban on patrons depositing into their sports-betting account more than five times in a 24-hour period. Furthermore, advertisements cannot include information about odds, cannot contain the phrases such as “bonus” and “no sweat”, cannot provide information on how to place a sports wager or how sports wagers work, and cannot occur between the hours of 8 am and 10 pm or during live sport events.
Why should you care?
Although most regulated sports-betting markets across the U.S. are now mature, regulations are continually evolving in response to technological advancements, such as AI, and emerging public health and safety concerns in gambling.
The proposed sports-betting legislation in Illinois, Massachusetts and New York indicate a collective shift away from a purely revenue-driven approach and toward a more consumer-friendly industry to address rising concerns about gambling-related harm and to support and promote a safer gambling experience for players. For sports-betting operators, this will mean additional resources to implement and monitor the required restrictions.
If the proposed legislation is adopted, operators in these states will need to adjust their business operations and review long-term strategies to strengthen player protections, minimize harm, and reduce operational risk.
Key actions to remain compliant
Sports-betting operators should consider taking the following steps to proactively address consumer protection concerns and remain operationally agile:
- Conduct a gap analysis: Consider conducting a gap analysis between current policies and the proposed restrictions under the SAFE Bet Act, paying close attention to advertising and marketing, use of AI, account funding methods, and deposit and spending limit checks.
- Audit advertising and marketing practices: Audit current advertising and marketing best practices, focusing on the use of “bonus” language and deployment of advertisements during live sports events. Ensure advertising/marketing policies are flexible and easily adjusted should stricter restrictions come into force.
- Review deposit and spending limit controls: Review current deposit and spending limit controls to prepare for potentially robust affordability checks. Verify that existing systems can adequately conduct such assessments and that all products are capable of implementing in-game controls.
- Implement or reassess AI policies: Reassess, or consider implementing, policies around the use of AI for all products and bet types. Scrutinize all current use of AI, especially personalized bets based on patron gambling behavior and habits.
- Track legislative developments: Track legislative developments in real-time to ensure policies and practices are always up to date and reflective of the current regulatory environment.
As of mid-May, the bills in Illinois, Massachusetts and New York had been referred to committees for further review. The Senate bills in Illinois failed to pass, however, when the legislative session ended on May 31. The New York and Massachusetts legislatures adjourn in June and November, respectively.
It remains to be seen whether the proposals in Massachusetts and New York will gain lawmaker approval and if so, what the precise impact will be. However, sports-betting operators in these states can prepare for evolving regulatory changes by reviewing the above policies to strengthen consumer and regulator trust, reduce the need for corrective action, and ensure long-term business sustainability.
