On April 12, the Maryland House of Delegates passed a Senate-amended version of HB 940, which legalized sports betting in Maryland. These amendments contained the Sports Bettors’ Bill of Rights, the same consumer protections that govern Virginia and the District of Columbia’s sports betting marketplaces. Continue reading

While the tight presidential race had Americans all over the country sweating through Tuesday night, sports gambling legislation passed comfortably in three states: Maryland, South Dakota, and Louisiana. While this appears to be great news for expanding sports bettors' rights everywhere, the legislation passed did not go nearly far enough to educate voters on the specifics for cast informed votes. All three propositions left critical details open that will determine how sports bettors are treated. South Dakota legalized gambling only on the Native American reservation, where all of the state's casinos are located, likely limiting government oversight. In Louisiana, the regulatory framework and tax structure are completely undecided and will be up to the state legislature, not the people, to decide.  Continue reading

College athletes work long and hard to support a multi-billion dollar enterprise from which they are largely cut out from the profits. Sports Fans Coalition has long advocated for name, image, and likeness rights, health care for student-athletes, and much more. SFC has fought for and alongside college athletes in state legislatures. Now, SFC is excited to join the fight in Washington. Continue reading

Today, Sports Fans Coalition filed at the Federal Communications Commission alongside Public Knowledge opposing relief on Charter Communication’s merger conditions. Public Knowledge is a public interest group which  promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. Sports Fans Coalition has partnered with Public Knowledge many times before to protect sports fans access to online and televised sports.  Continue reading

Sports Fans Coalition condemns police brutality, racism, and violence. The murder of George Floyd is the latest of a centuries-old list of African-Americans whose lives were taken far too soon. It is time that sports fans take stock on their role in this. Continue reading

On April 30th, Virginia became the second state this year to legalize sports betting. Not only that, but Virginia also became the second jurisdiction, after Washington, DC, to fully adopt the Sports Bettors Bill of Rights, making it the most consumer-friendly legal marketplace in the country. Effective July 1, 2020, sports bettors in Virginia will be guaranteed the rights to integrity and transparency, data privacy, self-exclusion, protection of the vulnerable, and recourse.  Continue reading

A couple of weeks ago, as St. Paddy’s Day was approaching, New York Yankees fans had been counting down the days to the start of another baseball season, and the holiday known as “Opening Day,” and suddenly everything came to an abrupt stop! Continue reading

I watched it happen in real-time. I saw the reaction of the players, the coaches, the referees on the court, the ESPN broadcasters, the fans, the owner. It was devastating and all too real to be happening already. I had been closely following and reading the news, specifically New York Times, of the (at the time) impending global health crisis, so I knew it was coming to the US soon. I just didn’t think it would happen this quickly, a Wednesday night in early March. It didn’t seem real, that the NBA would close as swiftly as a pin drop, falling from the not so distant sky and landing right on my personal map, shattering my present, my daily life. Continue reading

It's been almost a week with no sports. No March Madness, no MLB, and even pick-up games have dwindled. Times are hard, and I find myself rooting for anything I can; the dogs wrestling, the squirrels racing outside, and especially our doctors and nurses to get a leg up on the COVID competition.  Continue reading

On March 5th, 2020 the Maryland State Senate is expected to pass S 4 to legalize sports betting. The bill’s passage marks one of the earliest sports betting legalization bills in the country to prioritize the sports bettor over the casino industry. Sports Fans Coalition has advocated that the “Sports Bettors Bill of Rights” be included in S 4.  Continue reading