Sponsor
Richard Blumenthal
Senator · D-CT
Senator · D-CT
The bill creates a federally overseen, regulated framework for sports wagering with stronger consumer protections, treatment funding, and greater tribal revenue control — but it expands data collection and federal/state compliance requirements, raising privacy risks, administrative costs, and potential legal conflicts.
States can establish federally approved, regulated sports-wagering programs, replacing unregulated markets with a legal framework and oversight.
Consumers (bettors) gain stronger protections — required clear odds disclosure, withdrawal rights, bans on aggressive incentives, and limits on advertising — and States/Tribes may adopt even stricter rules.
The bill mandates funding and programs for responsible gaming and treatment and creates national surveys and a Surgeon General report to improve prevention, treatment planning, and policymaking.
Extensive operator data collection (including SSN/passport), a national registry/surveillance system, and data sharing raise substantial privacy and data-security risks for bettors and vulnerable individuals.
Federal approval requirements, detailed reporting standards, and the costs of creating/operating national systems (self-exclusion, surveillance) will impose administrative burdens and likely fiscal costs on state governments and taxpayers.
Preserving broad State/Tribal/local taxation authority may lead to higher taxes or fees on bettors and operators in some jurisdictions, increasing costs for consumers and small businesses.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Makes most interstate sports wagers unlawful except in AG‑approved opt‑in States, establishes civil penalties and DOJ enforcement, and creates national self‑exclusion and public‑health surveillance for gambling.
Official title: Establish minimum Federal standards for sports betting, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 13, 2025 by Richard Blumenthal · Last progress March 13, 2025
Creates a new federal framework that largely bans accepting interstate sports wagers except where a State has an approved opt-in program, sets civil penalties and DOJ enforcement tools, and requires States to apply to the Attorney General to run sports wagering programs. Establishes new public-health requirements: annual national surveys of online sports betting, a national self-exclusion list, stronger gambling-addiction surveillance through CDC, and a Surgeon General report on health impacts. The bill clarifies how interactive sports wagering counts for Tribal lands under IGRA, preserves State and Tribal taxing and sovereignty rights, and directs action against unlicensed offshore platforms.