CONSUMER LITIGATION: HOW OPERATORS CAN FUTURE-PROOF BUSINESS
As the US sports betting and iGaming market matures, operators are facing a growing wave of consumer litigation covering advertising, VIP treatment, player protection and responsible gambling. At the forthcoming IAGA Summit, Jessica Feil, General Counsel at OpenBet, will moderate a panel examining how legal challenges are reshaping the industry’s approach to compliance and risk management. Speaking to G3, Feil outlines the drivers behind the rise in lawsuits, the legal tensions between regulators and courts, and why technology-driven player protection systems may become one of the industry’s most important legal safeguards.
At the IAGA Summit, your panel focuses on litigation trends in the US gaming market. From your perspective, what’s driving the recent increase in lawsuits from customers and bettors?
Many of these cases center on consumer protection principles, such as responsible gambling protections, fairly treatment in relation to their winnings, and the nature of advertising and promotions. For example, the facts alleged in several cases focus on players that may have had bets they believed to be winners voided or challenges in withdrawing winnings they believe they are owed.
Advertising is also a hot topic in the US. Just eight years on from the fall of PASPA and growth of online sports betting, there has been a significant uptick in gaming advertising that has not gone unnoticed by lawmakers, regulators, and the public. Te gaming industry is still learning how to navigate some quite thorny consumer protection issues in a modern, online-focused gaming environment, such as appropriate language in advertising, frequency and volume of advertising, and integrating responsible gambling messages.
Right now, we see consumers turning to the courts for recourse, but this could - and should - change. Companies can take steps before it reaches the point of litigation through things like stronger customer service processes, stricter responsible gambling protections, and clearer communication with players.
At the same time, litigation is cost of doing business, and even 84
the most player protection first company cannot prevent lawsuits from being filed. Te question becomes if and when your company faces a claim from a player, what can you show the tribunal about the steps you’ve taken to be honest with and protect the players.
Are these cases mainly emerging because of the expansion of online betting, or do they reflect broader shifts in consumer expectations around digital services?
Tat’s a great question and something we’ll explore on the panel. Before the expansion of online sports betting and online casino in the US, we didn’t really see the same volume of litigation. But that was largely because gaming was much more concentrated in retail environments. Te online ecosystem functions very differently. It involves much greater levels of advertising, customer outreach and data collection. With this shift to the online world, we’re seeing new questions around consumer protection.
At the same time, we should ask whether these trends reflect wider developments across other industries. For example, we’ve seen increasing litigation relating to data privacy, marketing in financial services, and deceptive practices in the broader tech industry. In the US, many laws effectively place regulatory power in the hands of private plaintiffs. Tat’s one of the ways the country regulates its industries.
When you combine that with the amount of consumer data involved in online platforms, it’s not surprising that we’re
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236
