Big three questioned

The US National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) has questioned DraftKings, BetMGM, and FanDuel over their alleged reluctance to allow a qualified third-party to examine their online casino gambling safeguards for vulnerable customers.

tremendous lack of transparency”

According to UK national daily The Mail on Monday, the NCPG accused the three firms of a “tremendous lack of transparency.”

Keith Whyte, executive director of the industry-funded body, said DraftKings, BetMGM, and FanDuel are “sitting on a great story that they won’t tell.” He claimed that the trio’s disinclination to submit to checks “engenders a suspicion that perhaps they’re not really upholding [the highest standards].”

Falling short of expectation

The body argued that the three firms should meet the same gambling safeguard standards across all seven US jurisdictions where online casino is legal, not just in states that demand transparency such as New Jersey. If they did have the safeguards in place already, the NCPG said: “It would be very easy to be able to show people. But they don’t.”

While BetMGM remained tight-lipped in the request for comments department, DraftKings and FanDuel were more forthcoming. DraftKings said that it “actively participates in working groups and regularly collaborates externally with respect to responsible gaming.” Meanwhile, FanDuel said it sticks to responsible gaming standards “in strict accordance with each state’s policies.”

According to The Times, the NCPG recently reviewed the online casino regulations in place across the seven states with a legal market. The body’s report found Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, and West Virginia “significantly short” of its 39 responsible gambling recommendations, which include self exclusion, autonomous capping of gambling spend and playing time, and player advice.

Warnings from the UK

In contrast to the mature and heavily regulated betting markets of Europe, North America’s relatively new iGaming and sports betting sector is able to benefit from high levels of gambling advertising and marketing with little limitations.

Whyte and the NCPG are cognisant of this, citing the crackdown in the UK over 2022 which led to record multimillion-pound fines for operators. This included a staggering ￡17m ($20.6m) penalty for FanDuel’s co-parent Entain.

Inadequate safeguards in the US could lead regulators to take a page from their UK counterparts’ book, Whyte warned, and start cracking down hard.