With the Super Bowl less than 10 days away, two of the nation’s most respected broadcast news magazines are tackling the most provocative issues in sports betting this weekend.

On a piece that aired Friday, former Indianapolis Colts defensive back Isaiah Rodgers Sr. took responsibility for his rampant wagering on the NFL, including a four-figure prop on a teammate to hit a rushing total. He made the admission on a four-part series by ESPN’s Outside The Lines that will run through Sunday. The series dovetails with a 60 Minutes segment scheduled for Sunday evening, where the Emmy Award-winning program will examine the confluence of advertising, cutting-edge technology, data privacy, and promotional inducements on the psyche of incipient bettors.

In a teaser released this week, Cecilia Vega of 60 Minutes previewed the piece from Jon Wertheim, CBS News correspondent and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, according to his LinkedIn page.

Vega, who joined the acclaimed program last year, sets the scene:

As America gears up for the Super Bowl on February 11, Jon Wertheim investigates the growing and often addictive hold online sports betting has on young men…when impetuous 22-year olds making snap bets go up against gambling corporations armed with armed with data banks, artificial intelligence, and engineering the result is often a mismatch. 

The two explanatory pieces, along with a third from a mainstream publication around the Super Bowl, potentially provides the foundation for federal legislation to be enacted before the end of 2025.

As online sports betting has spread across the U.S., new uses for A.I. in the industry have arisen. Given the proliferation of artificial intelligence (A.I.) in all walks of life, the integration of A.I. is expected to be one of the most intriguing themes for the sports betting industry in 2024.

Three years ago, Entain provided a harbinger of sorts with the launch of the ARC protector model, a platform that uses A.I. and other sophisticated technology to detect the early onset of potential compulsive gambling disorders. The platform draws upon more than two dozen markers to identify risky behavior, running the gamut from elevated wagering and loss chasing, to spikes in bank deposits and anomalous gambling patterns.

Others are addressing the A.I. revolution head on. Last November, FanDuel CEO Amy Howe spoke at length on the challenges presented by A.I. in a sit down interview with Contessa Brewer at CNBC’s Evolve Global Summit. As with Entain, FanDuel is looking for ways to incorporate the technology for proactively shutting down risky behavior, as well as improving productivity with its own infrastructure.

At the same time, Howe is acutely aware of certain nefarious actors in cyberspace who are using “sophisticated technology to target (their) platforms.”

— Bloomberg Technology (@technology) February 10, 2023

Another leading CEO, BetMGM‘s Adam Greenblatt, is intrigued by the world of possibilities to engage with customers through personalized offers. Greenblatt outlined the process for Sports Handle roughly a year ago when MGM Springfield opened a retail sportsbook down the street from The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Before the advent A.I. it was nearly impossible for an operator to determine that “Joe Bettor” from Worcester is a LeBron James fan. But if the customer wagers 90% of his props on King James, he may receive a boosted bet for a Lakers-Celtics’ tilt. The technology is sophisticated enough to spot individualized betting patterns.

Whereas James could have odds of +210 to finish as the game’s top scorer, the Lakers’ fan may receive enhanced odds of +330. As operators sharpen their tools to collect vast data on their customers, there is a downside. Will third-party data providers swoop low enough to sell data on individualized bettor trends to thirsting sportsbooks? If so, robust data privacy laws such as ones under consideration in Massachusetts may come into play. It will be interesting to see how deeply Wertheim delves into the topic.

The 60 Minutes segment comes on the heels of a transformative federal bill introduced last month that would set aside half of the revenue from the federal excise tax on sports wagering for gambling addiction treatment and research. Dubbed the Gambling Addiction Recovery, Investment, and Treatment Act, or GRIT Act, the proposed legislation represents the first dedicated federal funding mechanism for programs to prevent, treat, and study gambling addiction, according to a joint press release from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR).

One cause for optimism among those who support funding for compulsive gambling is that approximately 75% of revenue will be distributed to legal gambling states for gambling addiction prevention and treatment through the existing Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant program, the National Council on Problem Gaming (NCPG) explained in a fact sheet on the act.

— Sports Handle (@sports_handle) January 26, 2024

Approximately six days later, Rep. Paul Tonko (D-New York) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urging the agency to designate gambling addiction as a mental health and substance use disorder. It was only when the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders came out with its fifth edition in 2013 that gambling disorder was formally recognized as an addiction by the medical community.

In the letter, Tonko cites research he claims shows that one in five people who struggle with gambling eventually attempt suicide. There is clear evidence in the medical community that those addicted to gambling also have co-morbidities like substance addiction or depression. Tonko went on to tie the repeal of a federal ban on sports betting with a considerable spike in the number of Americans who gamble – particularly those aged 25 and under.

The availability of legal gambling in the United States has dramatically increased following the 2018 Supreme Court decision to strike down the federal ban on state authorization of sports betting. In the states that have since legalized mobile sports gambling, individuals can engage with gambling products at all hours of the day, every day of the week…As the normalization of gambling spreads throughout the country, helplines dedicated to people struggling with gambling addiction are experiencing unprecedented surges in calls seeking treatment.

–Rep. Tonko letter to Sec. Becerra, January 17, 2024

By designating gambling addiction as a mental health and substance use disorder, treatment for the addiction will be covered under the Affordable Care Act. Tonko represents a district in Upstate New York that is home to Saratoga Race Course, which will host the Belmont Stakes in June.

On Friday, 60 Minutes also posted a portion of its interview with Harry Levant, a certified gambling counselor and mental health therapist with Ethos Treatment in the Philadelphia region. Levant is also advising Tonko on issues related to gambling and public health and is an adviser to the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University.

Though Levant has become a key face in support of responsible and problem gambling, he has a checkered past. Levant is a recovering gambling addict who was found guilty of stealing $2 million from his legal clients to fund his habit.  At sentencing — which did not involve prison time — Levant hit a nadir, admitting that he reached rock bottom, prompting him to rededicate his life to helping those who battle gambling addiction.

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 2, 2024

Last year at this time, Tonko introduced legislation ahead of the Super Bowl that seeks to place a federal ban on all electronic sports betting advertisements. The bill, the “Betting on our Future Act,” is modeled after the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which was signed into law more than 50 years ago.

“Over the last few years, there’s been a significant integration of sports betting in media content, bringing gambling directly into the living rooms of millions of Americans,” Tonko wrote in a statement provided to Sports Handle.

“That easy access means children, teens, and young adults are becoming increasingly familiar and engaged with gambling, an internationally recognized addictive product that is classified in the same substance use disorder category as heroin, tobacco, and alcohol. This concerning proliferation of a known addictive product is why I introduced the Betting on our Future Act – to ban sports betting advertisements in the same way Congress banned tobacco advertisements back in the 60s.”

There is some irony that 60 Minutes is scrutinizing the levers behind the steering wheel in the world of sports gambling considering that the program aired a segment in 1996 featuring a whistleblower who alleged that a tobacco company deliberately manipulated the chemicals inside their cigarettes to increase the addictive potential. The expose served as the inspiration for The Insider, a 1999 film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

— Will McCrabb (@mccrabb_will) November 30, 2023

Brianne Doura-Schawohl, a nationally recognized expert on responsible gambling policy, drew an analogy between the deleterious effects of smoking and gambling to illustrate the contrasting environments. In some instances, there are cases where you can gamble safely or responsibly without suffering harm, said Doura-Schawohl, founder of Doura-Schawohl Consulting LLC, a boutique global government relations firm that specializes in problem and responsible gambling policy. Doura-Schawohl formerly worked at EPIC Risk Management and the NCPG.

“There is no scenario where you can take a puff of a cigarette and be ok. It leaves a tarnish on your lungs, it compromises your health,” she told Sports Handle. “That isn’t always the case for gambling.”

In an interview with Sports Handle last August, Tonko did not provide a firm date on when the bill could be passed. Waiting for another five years, however, is too long, he emphasized.

“I’m continuing to push for Congress to take the necessary steps to reel in an industry with the power to inflict real, widespread harm on the American people,” Tonko wrote.

To @sportstalkmatt … this is the beginning of a march to Government regulation of the industry. @SportsbkConsig is confused how ESPN can run this story and run a book… pic.twitter.com/9qvFRRbd6f

— BostonianVsTheBook (@BostonVsTheBook) January 31, 2024

Each year before the Super Bowl, some gambling trade groups have come to expect a hit piece or two on the sports betting industry. It comes with the territory given the enormity of the event. But this year, the added media scrutiny may lead to lasting change.

For states’ rights advocates, federal intervention will be an unwelcome one. In Las Vegas, where the Super Bowl will be held for the first time, the gambling community continues to react to a guilty plea from former MGM Grand President Scott Sibella in connection with his ties to an illegal bookmaker. Matt Perrault, host of the sports betting podcast The Bostonian Versus The Book, had an unsettling feeling as he sat through the 60 Minutes trailer.

“A federal bill is coming in my opinion, (though) it may not happen for a couple of years,” he said. “The second I watched this trailer, I said, ‘oh, here it goes,’ This is it, this is how it starts.”

Jill R. Dorson contributed to this story

The 60 Minutes piece will air on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS and can be streamed on Paramount +