As the World Cup gets ready to kick off this week, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) is promoting new legislation he says will help protect children from being targeted by sports betting companies.
Blumenthal is co-sponsoring the GAME Act, a bill that would restrict how the sports betting industry can market to minors — including through advertising, promotions and the use of AI.
Blumenthal said the industry’s tactics are putting kids at risk: “The targeting of children by sports betting companies leads to addiction at early ages. My legislation, the GAME Act, will stop the sports betting industry from targeting children with ads, pitches, promotions and AI in a way that ruins lives and creates more addiction.”
The bill was recently introduced in the Senate and already has bipartisan support. Co-sponsors have compared the marketing strategies of sports betting companies to those once used by Big Tobacco, calling them predatory and harmful.