NCRG Gains $400,000 In Funds To Study Effects Of US Sports Betting

• The National Center for Responsible Gaming will be studying the effects of legalized sports betting throughout the country.
• The American Gaming Association donated $100,000 to the study alone.
• According to the AGA, an estimated 7 million people are projected to bet at casino sportsbooks next year.

LAS VEGAS – Earlier this week, the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) announced its plans to conduct a study of the effects of legalized sports wagering in the US. The research will be the first of its kind and comes with about $400,000 in total funding from industry stakeholders.

“With new opportunities for legal sports betting around the country, policymakers, practitioners, the entire industry, and the public will benefit from expanding our knowledge on the issue,” said Dr. Russell Sanna, executive director for the National Center for Responsible Gaming.

Since the repeal of PASPA in 2018, there have been a total of 17 states that have legalized sports betting. Most of them have done so through their pre-existing casinos. This has been the case for both retail and mobile sports betting.

In 2018 alone there were seven states that allowed sports betting and all together they gathered about $8 billion in total bets. Several other states, including Iowa and Indiana, have launched sportsbooks in their casinos shortly before football season this year.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) estimates that seven million sports bettors will place wagers at casino sportsbooks next year. The AGA was one of the biggest donors to the (NCRG) for their legal sports wagering study, having attributed $100,000 in funds to their cause.

“The expansion of legal, regulated sports betting has made it increasingly important that responsible gaming is not only a signature priority in new gaming markets, but that we also continue to deepen our understanding of effective responsible gaming practices,” said Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association.

However, the effects of legal sports betting may vary from state to state. While some states keep all sports betting operations within their casino properties, others have partnered with online operators to provide state-wide sports betting apps.

The amount of data for each state will vary as well since many of them have opened sportsbooks at different times. There are still several states, including Illinois and Tennessee, that have legalized the activity but have not begun to accept sports wagers.

According to the NCRG press release, the organization “is planning to release a letter of intent in February 2020 and anticipates accepting the first grant applications in late spring 2020.”

Given this information, it will likely be sometime before the results of the study are released to the public. By that time sports betting in the U.S. is expected to expand even further.

News tags: American Gaming Association | Bill Miller | National Center for Responsible Gaming | Russell Sanna