Seton Hall Law kicks off 4th Annual Gaming Bootcamp

The fourth edition of Seton Hall Law’s Gaming Law, Compliance, and Integrity Bootcamp got underway in Newark March 6.

The two-day event, billed as the premier gaming compliance program on the East Coast, is designed to provide attendees with the tools and best practices to help prevent, detect, and mitigate corruption and fraud in gaming.

It also offers the opportunity to bring together a rare collection of leaders from the gaming operator side, the regulatory side and the legal side, along with other stakeholders, to discuss issues and challenges as the industry grows and evolves, especially in the sports betting and online gaming sectors.

Devon Corneal, assistant dean gaming, hospitality, entertainment, & sports law, Seton Hall Law School, told NJBIZ that an event like this is vital to help students learn the ethics and legal framework of this sector while also providing people in the industry the opportunity to get a really strong foundation about those issues.

“To learn to identify problems before they become a problem, to head them off, to prevent them,” Corneal explained. “And then to address in really effective ways, any issues that come up. We’re here to give the industry the opportunity to learn, but also to meet with each other and connect with each other. And I think, if the industry is going to grow and be a compliant, sustainable one, these kinds of events are vital.”

She pointed out that because a lot of this space is still very much developing, many of the problems are going to be new and novel ones that have not been encountered before. So that dialogue between the different stakeholders is important to make sure everyone is on the same page.

“So let’s make sure that we are providing them with the tools to make it as clear, legal, and compliant as we can,” said Corneal.

She described the event as a great opportunity for the Garden State to be at the center of those conversations for a sector in which it is an industry leader.

“It’s really important because New Jersey has been a leader, both on the regulatory side and in leading the litigation that overturned PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992) that led to sports betting,” said Corneal. “And I think it’s great for our students. It’s great for everyone here to bring people from the West Coast, the South, the Northeast, and see that our regional questions are really national questions. And we can have that conversation here in New Jersey.”

William Pascrell III, partner, Princeton Public Affairs Group Inc., is one of the key organizers of the event and instrumental in bringing it to his alma mater. Pascrell is also a trustee for Entain Foundation US, which funds the bootcamp. The foundation is a nonprofit arm of Entain, one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups, which is dedicated to promoting responsible gambling throughout the country.

Pascrell echoed the sentiments about New Jersey serving as a leader in the gaming industry, crediting its regulators for preserving that role. And he added that he has been working with regulators to further develop standards for sports betting and other evolving forms of online gaming to ensure integrity, compliance and legitimacy.

He said that events like this helps move toward that goal and, like Corneal said, increase that dialogue between the different stakeholders as the industry goes through its maturation process. Pascrell added that it is a rare opportunity for the students to communicate with the top industry leaders in an intimate space—getting a chance to build their rolodex in the meantime.

“These are the pros of the industry educating you on everything from ethics to compliance,” said Pascrell. “You get immersed in the industry over two days and just get to learn.”

A full list of the speakers and panels can be found here.

The March 13 edition of NJBIZ will take a closer look at some of the topics discussed by the panels during the event.