Our Mission
Bet On Change advances gambling reform through four interconnected policy pillars — each targeting a different dimension of the crisis, united by a single goal: protecting Americans from predatory mobile gambling.
Tribal Sovereignty & Mobile Gambling Bans
Protecting tribal nations from corporate encroachment
For decades, tribal gaming has represented one of the most significant engines of economic self-sufficiency for Native communities across the United States. Tribal casinos and gaming operations exist within carefully negotiated legal frameworks — compacts between sovereign nations and state governments that balance economic development with regulatory oversight.
The rapid expansion of mobile sports betting threatens to dismantle those frameworks. When a multinational corporation can offer instant wagering from any smartphone in the state, the competitive position of tribal gaming operations erodes — and with it, the revenue that funds tribal schools, healthcare, infrastructure, and governance.
Bet On Change partners with tribal nations in states with strong Native sovereignty frameworks — including Washington, Oklahoma, Florida, and California — to oppose mobile gambling expansion that undermines tribal interests. Our work includes direct engagement with tribal leaders and chiefs, meetings with state legislators of both parties, and the development of policy frameworks that center tribal sovereignty in the gambling reform conversation.
We believe that any conversation about gambling regulation in America must include the voices of tribal nations — not as an afterthought, but as a foundational principle.
Regulatory Rollback in Legal States
Tighter restrictions where mobile gambling already exists
In states where mobile sports gambling is already legal, Bet On Change advocates for stronger consumer protections and tighter regulatory oversight. Legalization does not have to mean a free-for-all, and the current regulatory landscape in most states falls far short of what responsible governance demands.
Our policy research and drafted model legislation focus on several key areas of reform:
Mandatory Spending Limits
Requiring platforms to implement daily, weekly, and monthly deposit caps — with real enforcement, not the easily-bypassed "responsible gaming" theater that operators currently offer.
Self-Exclusion Tools That Work
Strengthening self-exclusion programs so that individuals who recognize they have a problem can meaningfully bar themselves from all platforms — not just one app at a time.
Cooling-Off Periods
Mandating waiting periods between account creation and the ability to place wagers, eliminating the impulsive "download and bet" pipeline that operators depend on.
Restrictions on Predatory Features
Banning or limiting micro-bets, in-game wagering, and other high-frequency betting mechanisms designed to maximize the speed and volume of losses.
These are not radical proposals. They are common-sense consumer protections that exist in virtually every other industry where products carry significant risk of harm. The fact that the gambling industry has operated largely without them is a policy failure — one we are working to correct.
Advertising Reform
Applying the lessons of tobacco to gambling
There was a time when cigarette advertisements saturated American media. Tobacco companies sponsored sporting events, hired celebrity endorsers, and crafted campaigns designed to make smoking look sophisticated, rebellious, and inseparable from the American experience. It took decades of public health advocacy, landmark litigation, and legislative action to dismantle that ecosystem — but the results speak for themselves.
Today, the gambling industry is running the same playbook. During any NFL broadcast, NBA game, or March Madness tournament, Americans are inundated with advertisements for sports betting platforms. The messaging is calibrated to appeal to young men: themes of competition, risk-taking, insider knowledge, and the thrill of the win. Celebrities and athletes lend their faces to platforms that will happily take every dollar their fans can lose.
Bet On Change advocates for restrictions on gambling advertising modeled after the regulations that transformed tobacco marketing in America. This includes limiting broadcast advertising during sporting events, restricting celebrity and athlete endorsements of gambling products, banning targeted digital advertising aimed at users under 25, and requiring prominent disclosure of addiction risks in all gambling marketing.
This is a long-term legislative goal — one that will require sustained advocacy, coalition building, and public pressure. But the precedent is clear. America has done this before. We believe it is time to do it again.
Men’s Mental Health & Gambling Addiction
The human cost behind the policy
Every policy argument we make is ultimately grounded in the same reality: gambling addiction destroys lives. It drives people into financial ruin, fractures families, and fuels a mental health crisis that remains drastically under-recognized and under-treated — particularly among men.
Men are two to three times more likely than women to develop gambling addiction. Young men aged 18 to 30 are the most vulnerable demographic, and they are precisely the population that the mobile gambling industry targets most aggressively. The results are devastating: crushing debt, shame, isolation, depression, and — far too often — suicide.
Research shows that individuals with gambling disorder have the highest suicide rate of any addiction disorder, with one in five having attempted suicide. Yet public understanding of gambling addiction remains limited. Only 39 percent of Americans view it as a "very serious" problem, compared to 62 percent for drug addiction. Fewer than 10 percent of problem gamblers ever seek treatment.
Bet On Change believes that gambling reform is, at its core, a men’s mental health issue. Our policy work is driven by the conviction that no app should have the power to destroy a life — and that the men and families bearing the cost of this industry’s profits deserve better from their government.
This Fight Is Far From Over
The gambling industry will continue to grow, advertise, and lobby as long as the public allows it. Change requires informed citizens, courageous legislators, and organizations willing to do the work.