Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas – prohibit sports betting. Those jurisdictions that have legalized sports betting set parameters that include age restrictions – with the great majority restricting sports betting to persons 21 years old and older, problem gambling measures, prohibitions against betting on local sports teams, prohibitions against betting on high school and college sports, prohibitions against player proposition bets, and some also require operators to offer mandatory deposit limits and session time limits, integrated with local problem gambling helplines and self-exclusion systems. Tribal and state regulatory systems ensure full transparency, work with the leagues to protect the integrity of American sports and maintain strict consumer safeguards and responsible gaming practices. It’s a proven framework that protects players and the public while delivering resources to benefit local community. Under this system, elected leaders in each tribe and state decide whether to allow sports betting, and in return, economic and tax benefits flow directly back to their communities. Under IGRA, tribal governments use 100 percent of all revenue generated from gaming, including sports betting, to tribal programs and services as well as contributions to state and local governments. Pursuant to some tribal-state gaming compacts, tribes also share a portion of their sports gambling revenue with state governments. In 2024, state governments generated approximately $2.5 billion from sports wagering. States use the revenue generated from sports gambling to offset costs of regulation, employ problem gambling programs, and direct remaining revenue towards local priorities, including education and elder programs, property tax relief, infrastructure and public services, and other initiatives. There is an ongoing debate among tribes and states that have legalized sports gambling about whether to offer the activity on the internet. To some, online sports betting poses added risks to underage and problem gambling, heightened risks of addiction, mental health concerns, and personal financial and other concerns. Prediction markets that offer gambling on the outcome of sports through event contracts completely sidestep these debates, ignoring the consequences, and for nearly one year now, have forced their way into the homes of every American family in direct subversion of tribal and state policy makers. Sports betting conducted pursuant to prediction markets also circumvents the ability of states to generate revenue, offers no local benefits, and offers none of the consumer protections or detailed gambling regulations required by tribal and state governments. In addition, for Indian Country, prediction markets that offer sports gambling directly violate tribal sovereignty and IGRA. Prediction markets offer their online gambling contracts nationwide in all 50 states and on every Indian reservation in the nation. These operators conduct gaming activities on Indian lands without tribal government consent, licensure, or regulatory oversight. This is a direct violation of IGRA, which confers exclusive authority to tribal governments to regulate gaming activities on Indian lands. The proponents of sports wagering contend that the activity is an innovative use of the prediction market, but their advertising reveals the truth. The wagering aspect can hardly be characterized as thinly disguised. To grant these proponents a path around true regulatory oversight abandons the interests of consumers and constitutes a betrayal of tribal governments to whom the United States holds the highest duty of trust.
5
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs