Massachusetts critics of runaway sports betting are trying to start a national movement to rein in gambling companies and slow down gambling addiction.
Dr. Harry Levant said the rate of gambling addiction has gone up at least 60 percent in states where sports betting is legal, including in Massachusetts.
Levant, who used to be addicted to gambling himself, is director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University.
This month, he traveled to Washington, DC with a new advocacy group called Friends and Family of Gamblers (FFOG) to urge lawmakers to put some brakes on the industry. The group includes parents whose children died by suicide after become addicted to sports gambling, as well as other friends and families affected by gambling addiction.
"It is harnessing the power of the voices of all those impacted by gambling, impacted by the unprecedented rise of online sports gambling and prediction markets, which are online sports gambling," Levan said, "and determined to do something about it."
Advocates accuse sports leagues and the NCAA, which is now run by former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, of disregarding the mental health risks of sports betting by partnering with gambling companies.
Levant said the selling of gamblers' personal data and the use of A.I. has led to the financial and mental health ruin of many sports fans. For instance, technology has made betting on even the smallest of events -- during games -- especially addictive.
According to the New York Times, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is investigating how sports books like DraftKings use A.I. to target gamblers who are losing and encourage more betting.
"They're using A.I. to deliver a fundamentally different, inherently dangerous, and defectively designed product that is being consumed by the public in ways for which it was not intended," Levant said.
Several states are already considering legislation to pull back on online and sports betting. For instance, the Bettor Health Act in Massachusetts would ban live-betting during games and limit how much money people can lose.
On a federal level, the Safe Bet Act would set minimum standards for the gambling industry, which currently does not have to follow any national regulations.
