New Jersey lawmakers are putting more scrutiny on how sportsbooks interact with customers who may be showing signs of problem gambling. Two responsible gambling measures were considered by the Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee earlier this week. One focuses on targeted marketing, while the other would make several changes to New Jersey’s self-exclusion process. The proposals come as lawmakers take a closer look at whether responsible gaming tools go far enough, particularly when it comes to VIP users.
The first measure is AR150, which urges New Jersey regulators to restrict targeted gambling advertisements sent to people who are known to have shown signs of problem gambling.
This issue was scrutinized after a FanDuel VIP user received a promotional video featuring Bryce Harper. The user said he had lost more than $1.5 million gambling on FanDuel before receiving the personalized message.
The situation has raised a broader question for New Jersey lawmakers: at what point should an operator stop treating a customer as a valuable VIP and start viewing their activity as a potential responsible gambling concern?
To that end, AR150 does not directly create a new advertising law. Instead, it urges the state to establish stronger protections around targeted marketing to vulnerable players.
A separate proposal, A5210, focuses on New Jersey’s self-exclusion system. Under the bill, people looking to remove themselves from a self-exclusion list would have to review educational and counseling materials before they could resume gambling. Those resources would explain gambling risks and available support services.
A5210 would also create a process allowing certain third parties to petition to have someone placed on a gambling exclusion list when there is a direct financial connection. That could include situations involving shared financial obligations, joint credit accounts, and more.
This would give New Jersey a more proactive system instead of relying entirely on users to recognize a problem and voluntarily exclude themselves.
The two proposals show how responsible gambling policy in New Jersey is beginning to move beyond typical tools such as deposit limits and voluntary self-exclusion. Advertising is becoming a bigger part of that discussion, especially when operators can use account data to send personalized offers to active users.
Other states have started looking at similar issues. For example, Illinois has also moved to strengthen player protection rules that would let people coming off the state’s voluntary self-exclusion list opt out of direct gambling marketing for at least another 12 months.
The proposal would create a separate marketing exclusion period, giving users additional time away from sportsbook and casino promotions even after they are legally allowed to gamble again.
The developments in New Jersey and Illinois show that states continue to look beyond typical responsible gaming tools, paying closer attention to how operators market directly to potentially vulnerable users.
