North America

Just days after tackling the subject of limiting bettors, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) held a discussion on another hot-button issue.

On Thursday the group of five commissioners listened to a presentation from MGC Chief of Sports Wagering Carrie Torrisi and MGC Director of Research and Responsible Gambling Mark Vander Linden.

The two offered an overview of how the VIP industry works in sports betting based on information they requested from operators and obtained via the commission’s own research and offered recommendations for potential regulatory changes as it pertains to them going forward.

Sportsbook VIPs are generally men age 35-45

The presentation offered some insights into a facet of the business that lacks a lot of open information and clarity.

Torrisi and Vander Linden confirmed that the most common demo for VIP customers is men in their late 30s to early 40s and, on average, participated as a VIP for 10 months. The data varied substantially by operators, but..

An ESPN College GameDay segment that aired in 2024 led to a $15,000 fine levied against PENN Sports Interactive by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC).

ESPN host Rece Davis made on-air comments in March 2024 during an ESPN Bet segment on College GameDay. Davis and another ESPN analyst, Erin Dolan, discussed NCAA men’s basketball betting picks with Davis describing a wager as a “risk-free investment.”

“You know what? Some would call this wagering, gambling, I think the way you sold this, I think what it is, is a risk-free investment. That’s the way to look at it,” said Davis when discussing a second-round March Madness matchup between UConn and Northwestern.

MGC holds an adjudicatory proceeding on the incident

An adjudicatory hearing conducted by the MGC in April determined that PENN, which operates ESPN Bet, violated compliance standards required by Massachusetts gaming law.

The MGC’s authority under state gaming law requires it to ban “advertisements, marketing and branding..

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) is taking steps to implement a global standard for the sports betting industry.

On Wednesday, the IBIA announced the launch of Mission 2030, a five-year global strategy designed to maintain a global standard for sports betting integrity.

“Our new strategic roadmap charts how we will continue to deliver best-in-class integrity services to our members, deepen collaboration with our partners, and successfully confront the challenges and opportunities reshaping our industry,” said IBIA CEO Khalid Ali. “IBIA is evolving to ensure that whatever new trends emerge, we remain ready to safeguard sports, consumers and regulated betting markets.”

Mission 2030 has three core objectives used to ensure fair and safe wagering globally.

The IBIA’s five-year strategy will facilitate improvements of the association’s Global Monitoring & Alert Platform, which is deployed to detect suspicious wagers. The platform also supports IBIA investigations. ..

People looking to seek help for gambling problems in the U.S. would be forgiven for being a little confused as things stand, as two helpline services purport to be the national number.

After a dispute spilled over into the courts, the 1-800-GAMBLER number is now being solely run by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ). That organization holds the rights to the name and mark and ran the helpline solo from 1983 until 2022, when it licensed it to the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) in a three-year agreement.

After a New Jersey court told the NCPG to cease using 1-800-GAMBLER following the expiration of that deal, the NCPG has resurrected the number it used to use for the purpose, 1-800-522-4700.

The section of the NCPG website that formerly displayed 1-800-GAMBLER resources and links now carries similar resources and information under the other number. Meanwhile, the CCGNJ’s website has the URL 800gambler.org and prominently displays 800-GAMBLER across i..

Continent 8 Technologies is leveraging its expertise to deliver a new product designed to provide protection from data breaches and other cybersecurity attacks.

The Florida-based online casino and sports betting solutions provider announced the launch of Threat Exchange, a platform created to combat cyberattacks. Threat Exchange is the gaming industry’s first dedicated cyber threat intelligence platform, allowing operators and other key stakeholders to identify and respond to cybersecurity incidents.

According to data provided by Continent 8, the online and retail casino industry has reported a more than 400% increase in cyber-related incidents since February 2025.

Threat Exchange identifies threats targeted directly at gaming entities as general cyber threat intelligence platforms miss roughly 70% of gaming-specific attack patterns.

“Threat Exchange is changing the game, providing unrivaled visibility into the behaviors and tactics of threat actors,” said Continent 8 Chief Securit..

Fantasy sports operator and approved prediction market participant PrizePicks has partnered with Mindway AI to lean on the Danish company’s automatic detection and monitoring technology.

The Atlanta, GA-based company will integrate Mindway’s software directly into its platform in a partnership it said will greatly boost its ability to detect and respond to potential problem gaming behaviors.

Mindway AI offers fully automatic detection and monitoring of at-risk and problem gambling behavior, as well as providing operators and its other partners with intervention solutions to enhance player protection. PrizePicks will use Mindway’s GameScanner tool to proactively identify nuanced player patterns that may signal increasingly risky gaming, such as shifts towards more frequent play, increased session frequency or accelerated spending.

“Partnering with Mindway marks a meaningful evolution in how we support player protection,” said PrizePicks Senior Director of Responsible Gaming Phil Sher..

A New York Assemblymember wants to tackle the issue of sportsbooks limiting bettors in the state legislature.

Democrat Asm. Alex Bores filed A9125 on Sept. 26. The bill aims to prevent sports betting operators from limiting the size and frequency of deposits or bets made by authorized sports bettors, or from banning them based on their success rate.

The bill, which has been referred to the Committee on Racing and Wagering, would amend state law to stipulate that sportsbooks cannot limit or kick out users because said user obtains financial benefit from their wagering activity.

Exemptions would be made when it is deemed that betting activity constituted suspicious wagering activity or suggests that the bettor may have a gambling disorder, as defined in state law.

In addition, whenever an authorized sports bettor is limited or banned, the operator would have to provide written notice to the bettor within 24 hours to explain the reasoning behind and the nature and parameters of the li..

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) continues to be the most proactive regulator when it comes to learning more about the practive of sportsbooks limiting bettors.

The group held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss its findings after asking for operators to provide data related to how often bettors were being limited.

MGC data analysis concluded very few bettors being limited

The data largely corroborated testimony the operators provided to the MGC a year ago, which is that limiting is something that happens to a fraction of a percent of bettors.

The data did indicate that those bettors who consistently won were more likely to have their betting limits lowered and were less likely to be included in a sportsbook’s VIP program.

Averaging the data from the seven online sportsbooks in the state, the MGC determined that 0.64% of bettors in Massachusetts were limited. The majority of those bettors (57.6%) were limited to between 1-24% of the default maximum bet on a app. However, 12..