- New Jersey lawmakers advanced a bill that would ban micro-betting over integrity and addiction concerns.
- A Pennsylvania case accuses major sportsbooks and the NFL of contributing to severe gambling problems through rapid-fire in-game wagers.
- Officials are taking a closer look at the practice as live wagering now represents a significant share of total betting activity on major platforms.
TRENTON, N.J. – Two major challenges to micro-betting emerged this week, as New Jersey lawmakers pushed forward a bill to ban the practice while a Pennsylvania court received a lawsuit targeting the sports wagering industry’s biggest players.
Senators Paul Moriarty and Patrick Diegnan got Senate Bill S-2160 over the line in committee Monday, a measure that would shut sportsbooks out of the micro-betting market entirely. The law would make it illegal for New Jersey sportsbooks to provide micro-bets, which are live, in-game bets on the exact next play or event, including whether a football play will result in a run or pass or if the next pitch will be a strike.
Operators would be fined between $500 and $1,000 for each infraction. The bill is currently on its way to the Senate as a whole for further discussion. New Jersey would be among the first of states with legal sports betting to specifically prohibit microbetting if it were to pass.
The ban was motivated by worries about game integrity and addiction dangers, according to lawmakers, who pointed out that the quick speed of micro-betting enables players to make far larger wagers in a shorter amount of time.
There is also legislation in NJ, including ones that would prohibit the use of credit cards for online sports betting and limit operators’ ability to target promotions to players who already use responsible gambling tools.
Lawsuit Names NFL, DraftKings, FanDuel
Two men from Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia on the same day the committee held its decision, alleging that DraftKings, FanDuel, the NFL, and the analytics firm Genius Sports all contributed to gambling addiction disorders through microbetting. In terms of legal sports betting , this case is among the first of its sort.
According to Terry Thompson and Christopher Sage, Pennsylvania betting sites used the NFL’s real-time data feed, which was provided by Genius Sports, to fuel quick in-game betting that resulted in significant financial losses. According to reports, the two men lost over $2 million between them on all platforms.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that NFL sportsbooks use VIP host programs to maintain both men’s engagement and betting even after they exhibit harmful behavior.
According to both DraftKings and FanDuel, live, in-game betting currently makes up around half of all wagers made on both platforms. This statistic highlights the reason why laws like New Jersey’s S-2160 are receiving more attention from authorities nationwide.
