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A pair of bills have reappeared in the West Virginia legislature to give gaming regulators the ability to ban gamblers who harass athletes or coaches, as well as granting officials oversight of independent tout and handicapper evaluators.
House Bill 4700, introduced by Delegate Shawn Fluharty, a Democrat, would amend the state’s 2018 sports-betting law to allow the West Virginia State Lottery Commission to ban patrons if they determine that they have “harassed or shown a harmful pattern of conduct” to an athlete, coach or official.
Fluharty introduced similar legislation last year, but House Bill 3310 did not pass after being referred to the House Judiciary Committee where it remained pending when lawmakers adjourned in mid-March.
Ohio enacted similar legislation last year after Republican Governor Mike DeWine called for imposing involuntary exclusion on anyone found to have harassed athletes, coaches or game officials.
The West Virginia bill also comes after the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began lobbying state lawmakers in October with the goal of identifying legislation that would offer stronger protections of student athletes, coaches and game officials from harassment. NCAA president Charlie Baker noted that some states already have policies on the books but “more needs to be done.”
The other sports-betting bill in West Virginia, House Bill 4019, was introduced by Republican Delegate Clay Riley and would allow the lottery commission to accredit independent tout and handicapper evaluators to eliminate misleading or false betting touts.
Riley’s bill is similar to legislation, Senate Bill 621, that was enacted last year in neighboring Maryland.
That law required the Maryland Lottery & Gaming Control Commission (MLGCC) to license independent evaluators that sports-betting licensees can then choose to use. There is, however, no requirement for licensed sports-betting operators to hire an evaluator.
The commission adopted regulations that spell out the qualifications for independent evaluators. The “Sports Wagering Contractor Licenses” regulations were published in the Maryland Register on December 29, 2023.
Among the requirements are that independent evaluators “have demonstrated experience and expertise in evaluating and rating sports wagering content, [and] may not have any revenue-sharing relationship with, or other financial interest in, a sports wagering licensee or sports wagering operator.”
These firms’ employees, owners or affiliates are also prohibited from wagering on sports. Maryland gaming regulations also require licensure of an independent evaluator and any key employees.
SharpRank, which describes itself as an independent evaluator in the sports-betting space, advocated for the new legislation. CEO Chris Adams was unavailable for comment on Wednesday (January 17).
In a blog post, SharpRank said auditing sports-betting content is a process of verifying, evaluating and validating the information, sources, methods and claims presented by the content creators who provide betting tips to players.
The auditing process involves checking the facts, figures, data, assumptions, logic and reasoning behind the content, as well as the qualifications, credentials and reputation of the content creators themselves.
Auditing sports-betting content can help identify and expose misinformation, fraud, manipulation, or errors that could mislead or harm the bettors or the market, according to SharpRank, which is based in Maryland.
In a note filed along with HB 4019 in West Virginia, Riley made it clear that the “purpose is consumer protection through setting standards and guidelines to combat predatory promotions/advertisement, remove industry bad actors, and create generally accepted evaluation practices.”
“Creating the guardrails now stabilizes the industry's growth and prevents collapses seen in other more mature markets and other industries. The goal is not to restrict business in any way, it is to elevate the industry and protect the consumer.”
Riley introduced a similar bill in 2023, which passed the House by a 93-5 vote but never made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee before the legislature adjourned.
According to HB 4019, the West Virginia Lottery Commission would have three months to identify and accredit independent evaluators. Once complete, mobile sports wagering licensees, experts or influencers, and content partners would have three months to select an independent evaluator.
Reporting from the independent evaluator to the commission would take place on a quarterly basis.
Both bills have been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. As of Wednesday, neither measure has been scheduled for a committee hearing.
