Petition seeks policy change for betting apps
A Nevada gaming licensee hopes to persuade regulators to change the rule requiring in-person identification verification for bettors who want to wager on sports via mobile apps.
It’s a change that some say could boost sports betting revenues and further promote use of cashless technology in gaming.
New Jersey sportsbooks won
$66.4 million in sports wagering on apps in December, a 125.6 percent increase over December 2019’s total.
For the year, that state’s casinos won $398.5 million in that category.
Nevada hasn’t released its December win totals from apps, but the November amount was $23.5 million.
Much of the difference has to do with population as New Jersey has about three times more residents than Nevada’s 3 million people. And, New Jersey is able to claim customers from neighboring New York, where logging on with a mobile app involves a quick trip over a bridge or through a tunnel to access online
gaming in the Garden State.
There are also some who argue that it’s far easier for customers to establish a mobile account in New Jersey because of a Nevada regulation that requires a player to show up in person at the sportsbook to verify the player’s identity.
In New Jersey the process can be completed remotely.
Las Vegas-based Sightline Interactive LLC and Sightline Payments LLC, a financial transaction provider working on cashless gaming solutions, hopes to change that policy after submitting a petition to gaming regulators seeking an amendment to the rules that require in-person ID verification. The matter will be heard Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Sightline first submitted the petition to regulators in September.
“Cashless solutions have proliferated across banking, e-commerce and online shopping and have become a preferred mode of transaction between businesses and consumers,” Jennifer Carleton, an attorney representing Sightline, said in a petition before the commission.
While enabling more cashless transactions is the endgame for Sightline, removing the restriction on account verification is viewed as a key difference maker for the technology.
Cashless gaming has other benefits. Responsible-gaming advocates say cashless systems can be programmed to place limits on a player’s spending. With a digital record of transactions, law enforcement can identify money launderers and other transgressions through payment analysis.
Nevada’s regulatory landscape has two different sets of rules for wagering accounts. Interactive wagering, which includes all authorized games, is covered in Regulation 5A. Wagering involving race and sports pools is covered in Regulation 5. Both address deposits, withdrawals, debits and credits.
The biggest difference between the two regulations is that Regulation 5A allows remote identification verification, but Regulation 5 doesn’t.
Knowledge-based authentication involves a series of questions asked, such as “What is the street where you lived when you were 16 years old?” Applicants can also produce mailings from utility companies to their home addresses.
But according to Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Brin Gibson, the argument isn’t that simple.
Many casino licensees — particularly those with race and sportsbooks — oppose allowing remote registration because some prospective sports-betting providers have little or no investment in brick-and-mortar operations in the state.
Brick-and-mortar investment
While some critics have said existing sportsbooks want to keep in-person signups so that customers can place bets or play slot machines when they come in to sign up for an account, Gibson said he hasn’t seen any data that suggest companies get much revenue from that.
The opposition, he said, is more likely the result of casino companies investing millions of dollars in their books only to see smaller out-ofstate companies enter the market with no investment in Nevada.
There has been no written opposition to the Sightline proposal posted on the Control Board’s website, but testimony about brick-and-mortar investment could become a part of Thursday’s consideration.