PHAI's Dr. Harry Levant Testifies Before U.S. Senate, Urging Federal Action on Sports Betting

BOSTON, May 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- With a compelling call for federal regulation of online sports gambling, Dr. Harry Levant—the Public Health Advocacy Institute's (PHAI) Director of Gambling Policy—testified yesterday as a witness before the United States Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy.

At the hearing, No Sure Bets: Protecting Sports Integrity in America, convened by U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Chair of the Senate subcommittee, sought to bring together a range of perspectives to examine the impact of the rapid expansion of sports betting in the United States.

Dr. Levant warned that partnerships between the sports leagues, data providers, and gambling platforms are fundamentally reshaping how Americans view professional and collegiate sports.

"The integrity issue is not just whether fans can trust the outcome of a game," he said. "The sports leagues have sold their integrity to the gambling industry. The NCAA, the owners, and the players have partnered for an enormous financial gain to sell their real-time data to the gambling industry to create micro-bets, parlays, and prop-bets. This is the type of gambling that is crushing people and their families."

Dr. Levant also called upon Congress to recognize prediction markets as a form of gambling and to apply consistent federal guardrails across the rapidly expanding sports betting industry: "Are prediction markets gambling? Most certainly yes. They meet the very definition of gambling. To the end user, the American public, there is absolutely no difference. The prediction markets themselves admit it is gambling."

Other witnesses at the hearing included Bill Miller, President & CEO of the American Gaming Association, Mary Beth Thomas, Executive Director of the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council, Scott Sadin, Co-Founder & CEO of Integrity Compliance 360, and Hon. Patrick McHenry, Senior Advisor for The Coalition for Prediction Markets.

A full copy of Dr. Levant's testimony is available here.

About the Public Health Advocacy Institute

Founded in 1979, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) is a nonprofit legal research center focused on public health law located at Northeastern University School of Law. In 2014, PHAI formed the Center for Public Health Litigation, a nonprofit law firm that uses the civil justice system to improve public health by using litigation targeting tobacco industry products, unhealthy foods, deceptive health marketing, and deceptive gambling practices as part of a public health strategy.

In March, PHAI filed a groundbreaking sports gambling lawsuit against DraftKings, FanDuel, Genius Sports, and the National Football League (NFL), claiming the companies created, distributed, and profited from live betting, an inherently dangerous product that encourages betting behaviors resulting in addiction.

In December 2023, PHAI and its Center for Public Health Litigation filed a class action suit against DraftKings in Massachusetts that garnered nationwide headlines. In February, a Massachusetts judge rejected most of DraftKings' Motion for Summary Judgment (MSJ) in the case, which will allow the case to proceed toward class certification, class-wide discovery and trial.

To learn more about PHAI, visit phai.org.

SOURCE Public Health Advocacy Institute