Congress Members to Call For Sports Betting, Prediction Market Reforms

• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) will today advocate for added sports betting and prediction market safeguards
• The Congressmen will join the Public Health Advocacy Institute and Families and Friends of Gamblers to launch a new initiative
• “Truth and Integrity: The Movement for Gambling Reform” will call for stronger federal oversight and consumer protection

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) today, along with two national nonprofit associations, will announce the launch of a new initiative to call for stronger federal oversight and consumer protections for sports betting and prediction markets.

Blumenthal, Tonko, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), and Families and Friends of Gamblers (FFOG) today will announce the launch of “Truth and Integrity: the Movement for Gambling Reform,” which will focus on greater accountability from the gambling industry and the sports and technology companies. The launch of the new program will be unveiled today at 4 p.m.

“We will continue to gain bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress. There is overwhelming evidence that we are in the midst of a mental-health and public-health crisis related to gambling addiction,” Harry Levant, a board member of FFOG, said in a press release. “This movement is just the beginning. It is a cry from the nation that we’ve had enough.”

Calling on Congress for Changes

The new program will focus on the following three fronts to advance changes to the sports betting and prediction market industry:

• Calling on Congress to oversee the industries through investigative hearing, minimum federal safety standards, and legislations
• Calling on state government to institute stronger regulation and enforcement
• Calling on the American people to advocate and pressure the industry for greater reform

According to the advocates, lawmakers in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Minnesota, Georgia, and Colorado have already shown early support for the program.

Blumenthal and Tonko will serve as leading voices in Congress to call for more federal oversight of the two industries. PHAI and FFOG will push for action from lawmakers, professional sports leagues, and the NCAA.

Continued Oversight Push from Tonko, Blumenthal

Boht Blumenthal and Tonko have been prominent Congress members to call for changes in the gaming industry over the last several years.

Most recently, Blumenthal, Tonko, and Rep. Valerie P. Foushee (D-N.C.) criticized FanDuel’s VIP sports betting program and responsible gaming practices. The Congress members called on FanDuel to eliminate its VIP sports betting program,

The three U.S. Congress members described VIP programs as “dangerously designed to distract bettors, including those struggling with a gambling addiction, from their financial losses and entice further destructive gambling – especially when they are attempting to quit.”

The politicians also sent letters to MLB and MLBPA in early August, urging the associations to end the practice of allowing professional baseball players to participate in VIP sports betting program sponsorships, according to reports from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Their letter referenced a FanDuel VIP host sending a personalized Bryce Harper video to customer Terry Thompson in November 2024.

Thompson allegedly lost $1.5 million on the platform over the course of several years. Thompson received the video as part of a perk for being a member of FanDuel’s VIP sports betting program. The Inquirer received a copy of the video from Thompson’s lawyer, who filed a lawsuit against both FanDuel and DraftKings earlier this year, alleging the companies used their games and VIP programs to keep Thompson gambling despite an obvious addiction.