Big U.S. pro sports leagues join alliance pledging responsible betting ads

Most of the major U.S. professional sports leagues, plus the media companies Fox and NBCUniversal, are creating an alliance to ensure that sports betting advertising is done responsibly and does not target minors.

The Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising was created Wednesday, consisting of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the men's and women's leagues of the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, NASCAR, Major League Soccer, Fox and NBCUniversal.

They described the group as a voluntary alliance to control how sports betting advertising, which is ever-present on the airwaves, in print and online, is presented to consumers.

It includes a recommendation that "excessive" advertising be avoided.

Formation of the group follows a move last month by the commercial casino industry through its U.S. national trade association, the American Gaming Association, to adopt a new responsible sports betting marketing code.

Both efforts recognize the proliferation of sports betting advertising in the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for any state to offer legal sports wagering.

They also have a clear, if unstated, goal: to regulate their own advertising before the government might step in and do it for them.

One New York congressman has introduced legislation that would ban all online and digital sports betting advertising, and others have called for government-imposed regulation of sports betting ads.

"As the legalization of sports betting spreads nationwide, we feel it is critical to establish guardrails around how sports betting should be advertised to consumers across the United States," the group said in a joint statement.

"Each member of the coalition