New Bill on Sports Betting Introduced in US Congress

The United States has long been strict in terms of managing how people can bet on sports events and engage in online casino activities. A new bill has been introduced in the Congress as a means of allowing the country to potentially make any kind of gambling legal around the country while also giving the government the opportunity to regulate such activities.

This is being performed through the Gaming Accountability and Modernization Enhancement Act or the GAME Act. It would establish new regulations for how online gambling can be managed around the country. This is also to add a sense of transparency to laws that are already within the country.

The general goal of the act is to get rid of the federal ban on many forms of gambling. The Federal Trade Commission would also get the rid to outline and review sports betting activities. There would also be the potential for the bill to make fantasy sports betting legal around the country. This could especially work for online use as people can bet on sports online without having to go through different international markets.

Offering Support For States

The GAME Act would allow individual states to set their own rules on how sports betting can occur. This would especially work for promoting online activities of all sorts. Protection rules would also be established as a means of making it easier for individuals to be protected from predatory groups that might try and promote unfair betting options.

In addition, the act would include rules for how taxation would be used. This includes managing regulations over how betting activities can take place. Part of this is to help states with raising funds through the activities that they legalize if they choose to expand betting and gaming options in their areas.

Existing Points

Most of the existing points relating to betting and gambling in the United States have been handled by individual states. The GAME Act would work to create a larger sense of understanding around the nation as to how gambling-related activities can be managed.

Sports betting has especially be handled by many national acts like the Wire Act of 1961 and the Illegal Gambling Business Act of 1955. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which was passed in 2006, was the most recent major act to have been passed within the country.

Who Supports It?

Groups in the gambling industry like the American Gaming Association have been supportive of the new bill. This comes as there are reports that Americans are spending nearly $400 billion on sports betting with that money essentially going into other countries. There has been a desire to try and get the gambling laws around the country to change and work with more modern and relevant terms.

However, some organizations have also expressed worry over how the law would world. The National Collegiate Athletic Association or NCAA Has especially offered concerns over how the law would work and if it could encourage people to bet on various games involving athletes who are essentially treated as amateurs for legal purposes.