IGI Panel: ‘The Fan Has Changed With Online Sports Betting’ And Operators, Leagues Continue To Adapt

By Jill R. DorsonLAS VEGAS — Ten years ago, it was unusual to see a gambling advertisement at a professional sports stadium, never mind on television. Before the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned in 2018 and sports betting became a states’ rights issue, sports fans may have seen a billboard for the San Manuel Casino at Angels Stadium or gotten a Sycuan Casino Resort rally towel at Petco Park, but that was about the extent of it.

>But since the introduction of online sports betting in more than 35 U.S. jurisdictions, the number of sports team-gambling company partnerships has exploded, and the nature of those relationships has evolved. MGM has an advertisement on Fenway Park’s Green Monster, and there is a Caesars Sportsbook at the Diamondbacks Chase Field.

>BetMGM Director of Responsible Gaming Rich Taylor and NASCAR Director of Sports Betting Ray Koch shared some insight at the International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking Conference on the changes and how operators and leagues have adapted.

>“The fan has changed with online sports betting,” Koch said during a May 27 panel discussion moderated by American Gaming Association Vice President David Forman.

>Koch explained that the goal used to be to pull in and cultivate die-hard fans who would commit to watching all 38 races on the NASCAR schedule. But since 2018, “we’ve had to embrace those who are once-a-month” fans or fans who tune in for only the final laps of a race. In addition, Koch said, NASCAR’s marquee event, the Daytona 500, is the week after the Super Bowl, and the league now tries to find ways to leverage Super Bowl viewership and betting to drive customers to NASCAR.

‘People don’t want to be told what to do’No matter why or when a fan tunes in, Koch and Taylor said, operators and sports leagues share data about those betting on an event, and NASCAR works with multiple integrity partners, which are national or international bodies that leagues (or teams or regulators) can hire to monitor wagering activity. In addition, a league’s partner — and in this case, BetMGM is a NASCAR partner — has its own monitoring capabilities. The top-line goal is to prevent wagering scandals, but on an everyday level, the goal is to keep betting and bettors as safe as possible.

>To that end, online sports betting operators provide a full suite of responsible gaming tools and problem gambling resources to bettors upon signup. Many operators also regularly remind bettors what is available, and if they note unusual behavior, will reach out. During the panel, Taylor was asked why BetMGM and other operators do not make the responsible gaming tools “opt out” instead of “opt in.”

>Taylor said “people don’t want to be told what to do” with regard to the “opt out” option. He said his company has seen better results with regular follow-ups and is trying to strike a balance between pushing too hard and not hard enough.

>“We want to put people in a position to make that decision,” he said. “I think if you look at other places where this has been tried in a more authoritarian fashion and these things are mandated … you’ll see [players] leave and go to a place where they are not forced to set these things. There are also other unintended consequences, I know [when] we tried to set a limit per stake, or per bet, they are just going to bet more. Or if you try to limit the amount of deposits or bets that they can make, they are just going to deposit or bet more.”

>Ultimately, the goal, Taylor said, is for bettors to “feel good” about using responsible gaming tools, not “feel ashamed to say ‘because I can’t control myself, I have to use a deposit limit.’ No, it should be because ‘I want to make sure that I protect my bankroll and I want to protect myself as a player.'” He said the distinction in how BetMGM talks to players is critical.

>Should there be a situation where a bettor, or in the case of NASCAR, an employee, does develop gambling addiction, operators and leagues have programs in place to help. In every state, operators are required to clearly post problem gambling helpline numbers and will connect bettors exhibiting concerning behavior to counselors. At NASCAR, Koch said, drivers and other employees have free access to problem gambling help via partner Kindbridge Behavioral Health.

NASCAR can shield drivers from harassmentHarassment was also a part of the discussion. The rise of online sports betting and social media allows people unprecedented access to athletes or celebrities. Some gambling companies, including BetMGM and FanDuel, have “zero tolerance” policies in place for bettors who harass athletes. In both cases, such bettors may be removed from the platforms. In addition, some states, including Ohio, have put criminal penalties for athlete harassment into place, and athletes themselves have publicly addressed the issue.

We commend AGA member @BetMGM for reinforcing sports integrity through their new Athlete Anti-Harassment Policy, helping protect athletes and promote respect across the sports betting ecosystem.

Learn more: https://t.co/coc1HwfWvlpic.twitter.com/qxETlrxN3n

— American Gaming Association (@AmericanGaming) February 4, 2026Koch said NASCAR has taken a proactive role in working with its drivers on the issue of harassment — the league has the ability to monitor drivers’ social media accounts.

>“I think that unfortunately, one of the downsides of sports betting is that you see a lot of people who will take to social media to comment on driver/athlete profiles and their posts about their performance in relation to their bets,” Koch said. “So we’re doing a lot of work where we can scrub those comments, and they’re just hidden from the athlete, and they have the option to let us see their DMs as well, so those personal messages can be scrubbed from them, too.”

>Koch also said that should a comment rise to the level of a threat, NASCAR would “elevate” that to law enforcement to handle.

>BetMGM introduced its anti-harassment policy earlier this year, and it monitors comments made via social media and other means. The company investigates negative or threatening comments, and “taking action to get those people off our platform because if you conduct yourself in that manner, if you make threats to people … about the results of a game … that is not the kind of player we want on our platform, and that’s not something we want to be involved in or facilitate.”