Pros and Cons of In-Person Mobile Sports Betting Registration

When you think of using an online sportsbook, you don’t envision needing to do anything in person. Instead, you expect to register, deposit, and place bets online.

For decades, this is exactly how betting sites have worked. However, some states in the US now institute an in-person registration process.

This page discusses more on what in-person registration entails. It also covers the pros and cons of this process.

What is In-Person Betting Registration?

Typically, mobile sportsbooks allow you to sign up online. The prompt you to select the “Join Now” or “Sign Up” button on the homepage and go through the registration process.

You’ll then fill out a form that asks for some or all of the following information:

• Name
• Email
• Phone number
• Home address
• Username
• Password
• Social Security number (requested by regulated internet sportsbooks)

Online registration’s benefit is that you don’t need to go anywhere to get started. Instead, you just visit the relevant betting site and begin filling out the forms.

Many states that have regulated online sports betting allow gamblers to sign up online. However, certain states feature an in-person (live) requirement.

Live registration requires showing up to a land-based sportsbook. You then need to present a valid form of identification and fill out relevant forms.

States mandate in-person registration because they want to verify your age and ensure that you’re not on a gambling self-exclusion list.

Of course, the obvious downside is that live registration is an inconvenience. It requires you to visit a brick-and-mortar casino/sportsbook rather than just doing everything from your phone.

What States Require In-Person Registration?

Iowa and Nevada currently demand that bettors show up to brick-and-mortar casinos to sign up. Once sports gamblers in either state register, they can carry out the rest of their wagering activities online.

Luckily, the Hawkeye State will soon get rid of their in-person requirement. Starting in 2021, Iowa residents will be able to register over the internet.

Nevada was grandfathered into PASPA and has featured mobile betting since 2010. The Silver State has also forced mobile gamblers to show up at land-based casinos to register since then.

New York doesn’t currently offer legal land-based or online sports gambling. Discussions up until now, though, have included the in-person requirement.

Over half the country still has yet to regulate sports betting. Some future states that legalize the activity may require gamblers to sign up in person.

Why Do Lawmakers Demand Signups at Land-based Sportsbooks?

Politicians don’t legalize online sports betting with a grain of salt. Instead, they want several conditions met before offering approval.

More importantly to this discussion, lawmakers want to prevent underage betting and ensure that problem gamblers are protected.

In-person registration helps solve both of these problems. When somebody shows up to sign up, a bookmaker can better determine one’s age and match their face to an ID.

Pros of In-Person Mobile Betting Registration

In-person signups may not seem ideal. As you’ll see below, though, they do feature some benefits compared to online registration.

Prevents Underage Gambling

Nobody is a fan of underage betting. Every state works to prevent minors from placing bets at land-based and online sportsbooks.

Of course, minors stand a better chance of illegally wagering at betting sites versus brick-and mortar locations. Nobody can judge their age when they’re betting over the internet.

In-person registration helps combat this problem to a large degree. A sportsbook worker can better judge a person’s age when they’re face to face. They can also ensure that the gambler isn’t using somebody else’s ID.

Helps Stop Problem Gambling

States with legal sports wagering future self-exclusion lists. The latter allow a problem bettor to voluntarily exclude themselves from a gambling market. A person can self-ban themselves for anywhere from one year to a lifetime.

Some gamblers simply can’t stop placing bets on their own. A self-exclusion list takes the problem out of their hands.

Sportsbooks aren’t supposed to accept wagers from anybody on one of these lists. Of course, they may experience more difficulty following this rule when they don’t have face-to-face interaction with gamblers.

Herein lies another benefit of in-person registration. A sportsbook can ensure that a bettor isn’t signing up with fake identification.

Gives Land-based Casinos a Boost

Some brick-and-mortar casinos worry when their states legalize online gambling. They fear that fewer people will come to their establishments due to the convenience of internet betting.

In-person registration drives more business to brick-and-mortar casinos. Once inside, gamblers might be tempted to place bets and/or play casino games.

Of course, one-off visits won’t provide longstanding benefits to brick-and-mortar gambling venues. But they do at least get people in the doors. Afterward, certain bettors will feel more comfortable revisiting the casinos where they registered.

Cons of In-Person Mobile Sports Betting Registration

Forced live signups at land-based casinos is a controversial measure. You can see some of the biggest problems behind this stipulation below.

Inconvenient for Many Bettors

When you feel the urge to place an online bet, you likely don’t want to drive to the casino first. Unfortunately, this is exactly what in-person registration requires you to do.

Perhaps you won’t have a big problem with the matter if you already live near a casino. But what if the nearest brick-and-mortar establishment is two hours away?

In-person signups can be a huge convenience depending upon how far you live away from the casino. Even if you do live close to one, you probably don’t feel like driving there, parking, and making the trip inside.

Serves as a Deterrent for Mobile Betting

Depending upon how passionate you are about betting, you might make the trip to your nearest casino with no complaints. However, not everybody is this passionate about the matter.

Picture a casual gambler who only intends on placing a bet here or there. Are they going to jump in the car and drive to a casino just to sign up for a mobile sports betting app?

The in-person requirement is certainly a deterrent for online sports betting. Some people might never register at all upon finding out that they can’t just sign up online.

Can Push Gamblers to Other States

More and more states are legalizing sports betting. That said, you may live in an area where you can take a short drive across state borders.

You might find that gambling online in another state is preferable to registering in person. This is especially the case if you fall into the aforementioned category of somebody who doesn’t live near an in-state casino.

In certain situations, states will lose out to their neighbors when it comes to internet betting. And while they might gain something in terms of pushing people to their land-based casinos, they’ll also lose some mobile betting revenue

Is In-Person Registration Ultimately a Good Idea?

If you’re a sports gambler, then you’re probably not thrilled about the idea of completing in-person registration.

The latter is inconvenient and forces you to leave the house. In-person signups can also lower tax revenue if they encourage bettors to place mobile wagers in other states.

The bright side is that live signups help reduce underage and problem gambling.

Minors and problem bettors experience a tougher time placing wagers when they must register in person.

Benefits certainly exist to in-person registration. Overall, though, most sports gamblers prefer signing up online.

Internet registration is simply more convenient and encourages additional signups. The latter helps produce more tax revenue for the state.

Conclusion

Most states with legal sports wagering have nixed the idea of in-person registration. They instead let gamblers sign up online for mobile sportsbooks.

Nevada and Iowa, however, have broken this trend by requiring live signups. The Silver State has mandated in-person registrations since 2010. It’s unlikely to drop such a requirement any time in the near future.

The Hawkeye State, meanwhile, is only forcing people to register live until 2021. Therefore, they’ll soon allow online signups.

In summary, most states don’t see in-person registration as a great idea. You can expect the majority of future sports-betting states to feature internet registration.