DENVER — Sports betting ads are the new political commercial, but instead of gracefully coming to an end after an election, they just keep coming.
A Colorado legislator behind the effort to legalize sports betting in Colorado is considering figuring out a way to regulate the excessive sportsbook ads brought on by legalization.
“I thought that the industry or the market itself would start to regulate itself,” Colorado House Speaker Alec Garnett (D) said. “It clearly hasn’t.”
“Every legislator should be able to say that sometimes there are unintended consequences and you have to take responsibility for them and clean them up and that’s what I’m doing.”
Garnett didn’t get into too many specifics, as he said he’s still crafting the possible legislation, but he said the state could regulate the sports gaming industry as it does other industries.
“We’ve done it with marijuana, we’ve done it with tobacco, we’ve done it to certain degrees with alcohol,” he said. “So, we need to be smart about going about this.”
“You can limit how they talk to the people across the state both in online advertising, on billboards and on TV. You can try to limit who they are speaking to and what populations they’re trying to address.”
Garnett said he’s also working a separate package of legislation to try to bolster Colorado’s support for people addicted to gambling.
“I think the industry knows people are frustrated,” Garnett said. “The industry just hasn’t done anything about it. The industry is too slow.”
Kristin Mackey, vice president of marketing for Superbook Sports, told 9NEWS that while it may not seem like it, the onslaught of advertising is beginning to lessen.
“So many other markets are coming on board, like a huge market in New York,” Mackey said. “Now you’re having to put your resources into the newer markets.”
“I’m not sure it has to be regulated by law because it’s going to self-govern at some point,” she said.
Mackey said, personally, she believes the market is inundated with commercials. But she said it’s important to remember the industry is still new in Colorado. Much like electric vehicle ads will begin to flood the airwaves soon, sports betting ads are so prevalent to remind people that the industry exists.
“The smash and grab mentality that was there initially in trying to get players and things is going to pulse a lot more and not be quite so steady,” she said.