A new bill that would drastically alter the future of sports betting in West Virginia is currently under review. And if it passes, it won't just be the Mountain State that ends up impacted. Over time, it would have ramifications on the rest of the United States.
The bill in question, known as HB 3310, is a bi-partisan initiative that would ban sports bettors who harass players, coaches and officials. It was introduced by four state delegate members earlier this year and is currently pending action in the House Judiciary Committee. Though the entire proposal contains various details, here's the most important part of it, courtesy of Bennett Conlin over at Sports Handle:
"A patron may be banned from sports betting pursuant to subsection (d) of this section if the commission determines that the patron has harassed or shown a harmful pattern of conduct directed at a sports official, coach or any participants of a sporting event."
It isn't immediately clear how the state hopes to enforce bans on West Virginia sports betting. Still, if this measure is successful, it could change the way legal sports betting in the United States is conducted.
Why West Virginia Sports Betting Laws May Need to Crackdown on Unruly Gamblers
While no singular incident is considered the primary inspiration for HB 3310, officials and analysts have routinely cited a series of controversies from earlier this year as a turning point for West Virginia sports betting.
Anthony Grant, who is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Dayton in Ohio, spoke at a January postgame press conference about the backlash collegiate athletes were receiving from bettors who placed losing wagers. There was also an incident in February where a New Mexico men's basketball player received disparaging comments online after missing free throws that prevented his team from covering the point spread.
This issue isn't limited to collegiate sports, either. It's arguably more prevalent at the professional level, since those leagues generally play more games in front of larger audiences. Most recently, a fan in Orlando hurled adversarial comments at Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal because he lost a bet involving the All-Star. Police wound up looking into the exchange, and it should also be noted sports betting in Florida isn't currently legal.
States have started to contemplate ways to combat this behavior over the past six months or so. Sports betting laws in Ohio have been the most aggressive to date, but West Virginia's HB 3310 would be a landmark precedent if it's successful. And as one of the first states to legal sports betting, they have more experience with this problem than most.
How Would West Virginia Enforce Sports Betting Bans?
Actively enforcing this policy would be a challenge. While many in-person incidents make headlines, there are many more on social media that go unnoticed or unreported. And even when social media harassment does gain national attention, there isn't a clear recourse for offenders.
Consider what happened at the start of the 2023 NBA playoffs. The nine-year-old daughter of Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan received threats online from disgruntled bettors because she was screaming during opponent free throws throughout a play-in game. Security at the arena escorted her to safety after the buzzer, but no further action has been reported.
West Virginia would need systems in place to identify over-the-line and harmful comments being posted on social media. And these systems need to be more comprehensive than search terms with a player's or team's name within it. They would need to set up algorithms that include common phrases, and even that's not bound to cover everything. Let's say they identify a potentially problematic post on Twitter. How do they go about locating the individual? Especially if they're posting from a "burner," which is an account created with false information that doesn't feature any revealing details to protect the user's identity?
It also isn't clear what sports betting bans in West Virginia would look like. Do the top online sportsbooks in West Virginia simply get a list of offenders and are then tasked with restricting their ability to create and operate accounts? How does that even work? Would they use the same technology used to prevent people in certain geographical locations from signing up with sportsbooks?
Even If West Virginia Isn't Successful, This May Be The Start Of Something Big
All in all, this new West Virginia sports betting bill seems like it needs more fleshing out. As it currently stands, this initiative wouldn't even grant them the ability to punish someone who harasses a West Virginia collegiate athlete if they live in another state. A bill of this magnitude likely requires the cooperation of other states.
Though this seems like a long shot now, it's perfectly realistic down the line. More and more states are taking stock of the ill effects that come with legal sports betting.
For so long, the uptick in gambling addiction and predatory advertising were primary focuses. States have responded by introducing legislation that increases funding for problem-gambling and creates stricter advertising policies and limits for sports betting companies. We could soon see a similar approach when it comes to curtailing the harassment that athletes, coaches and officials face both in-person and online from bettors who are irrationally incensed when they lose a wager.
Again: We're not quite sure what that looks like. But it only takes one state to start a growing trend. For all we know, West Virginia's HB 3310 could mark the beginning of something big.
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