New Jersey Lawmaker Presents New Gambling Advertisement Restrictions Bill

Article ByDavid Weir

June 26, 2023

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Posted in: New Jersey Gambling News, US Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

New Jersey State Senator Joe Cryan (D-20) wants stricter regulations on sports betting advertising, and he’s sponsored a new Senate bill to make it happen.

The impending close of the summer session this week means the bill isn’t likely to be discussed until fall. But Cryan is setting his camp out early and aligning himself with other New Jersey bills of a similar stance.

Bill S4021 sets out to ensure that no sportsbook advertising is targeted at those under the legal betting age of 21, or those on self-exclusion lists.

It also wants to end “fraudulent or deceptive” advertising from sportsbooks.

“We’ve got a responsibility as a state to provide restrictions where they’re feasible and in the public interest, and these are,” Cryan told Legal Sports Report late last week.

Advertising Curbs Likely

Even if Cryan’s bill won’t be debated for a while, similar gambling bills are already in the early stages of the New Jersey legislative system.

Bill AR168 has been through Assembly committees over the past month. It “condemns the overproliferation of pro-gambling ads in New Jersey.”

Meanwhile, Bill A5226 wants to end sports betting partnerships with colleges and universities in the state.

Cryan is confident that his bill and the others are uncontroversial and could see smooth passage through the usually quieter fall legislative session.

“It’s even-money that it passes,” he said.

Just Too Much of That

Both those assembly bills and Cryan’s Senate equivalents occasionally use slightly nebulous language, such as “fraudulent or deceptive.”

Until that language is more strictly defined, such statements are a proven an area of contention between operators and regulators across the US since the advent of legal markets.

Then there’s also the fact that New Jersey doesn’t actually have any colleges that partner with sports betting brands.

In fact, across the US, only two operators remain in such deals with colleges after a series of scandals involving college sports teams and betting.

However, Cryan still thinks advertising needs to be further reduced.

“When you watch the ads, which are nonstop, I think most folks would say there’s just too much of that,” he said.

New Problem Gambling Tools

As well as ongoing efforts to curb advertising in the Garden State, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, or DGE, introduced more help options for problem gamblers this month.

The regulating agency is putting the tax revenues it has earned from the $2 billion the state’s gambling market has made this year to use with two new problem gambling prevention strategies.

DGE Director David Rebuck announced an extension of the capabilities and availability of his agency’s toll-free phone number service for problem gambling advice.

There, people can voluntarily self-exclude from all legal gambling in New Jersey, online and in-person.

It also added an option to request a virtual meeting to confirm their self-exclusion, as well as in-person meetings.

“The efforts announced today underscore our commitment to helping problem gamblers by expanding the entry points for self-exclusion and other methods to receive assistance,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.

Platkin has been a staunch supporter of anti-problem gambling initiatives in his state, lending credence to further bills by legislators, such as the new bills from Senator Cryan.