As the sports betting industry continues to grow, regulation of it becomes critical. Enforcing those regulations is part of that effort.
In Colorado, Fanatics Sportsbook has agreed to pay a $20,000 fine for contacting a gambler who self-excluded from further promotions.
Via Noelle Phillips of the Denver Post, the fine was levied on Thursday following an agreement between the company and the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission.
The self-exclusion list, a tool for addressing gambling addiction, prohibits sportsbooks from sending promotional information to those on it. A Fanatics VIP host contacted the gambler in question twice.
Fanatics Sportsbook, one of three NFL sportsbook partners for 2026, also agreed to audit its self-exclusion list, in order to determine whether others from a group of roughly 1,200 Coloradans were sent marketing promotions via text message between January 1, 2024, and March 1, 2026. It also will train staff members on the self-exclusion rules.
Much more regulation of the industry is needed. And all regulations need to be properly applied. Many gamblers have become addicted, thanks to the ease of placing bets by phone. They win some, then they lose. Then they chase their losses. And then they fall into a hole that only gets deeper.
It’s a basic reality that anyone working in sports media needs to recognize, and to repeat. The house wins. That’s why it’s a good business model. Which means the gamblers lose.
That fact must be accepted by anyone who tiptoes down the primrose path of easy money before learning a very hard, and perhaps irreversible, lesson.
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