All Bets Are Off

Gaming attorneys Katherine Baker, Johnny ElHachem and Samantha Ahearn published an article in Sports Betting Operator magazine analyzing four litigation trends affecting the sports betting industry. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, legal sports betting quickly expanded across the nation, and the commercial sports betting market generated $16.9 billion in revenue in 2025. With growth, however, has come sophisticated litigation targeting how operators advertise and manage wagers, in addition to platform design. Katherine, Johnny and Samantha identify four main types of legal challenges: 1) duty of care and product liability claims stemming from gambling addiction, 2) deceptive promotion and advertising claims, 3) loss recovery actions premised on illegal gambling and 4) privacy claims under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and federal and state wiretap statutes. Their article takes a closer look at each of these areas, analyzing the relevant regulations at the state and federal levels, agency enforcement actions, and examples cases and their outcomes. The authors conclude by outlining compliance considerations for betting operators and product and marketing teams, emphasizing that demonstrating transparent marketing, defensible product design, effective responsible gaming controls, jurisdiction-specific product review and privacy-by-design will help protect platforms in the current litigation environment.

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