In this episode, Joe Maloney, Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications at the American Gaming Association (AGA), shares his journey into the gambling industry, from lobbying for the Washington Commanders' stadium to working with and ultimately for the AGA.
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE: This Responsible Gaming Education Month, the AGA and our members are aligning around Play Smart from the Start—a new hub making responsible gaming education more consistent and accessible. Explore resources, share them with your networks, and join the industry’s collective commitment to leading on responsibility in gaming.
To get involved, explore the RGEM 2025 and Play Smart from the Start industry toolkits.
Maloney highlights the fast-paced nature of the sector, contrasting it with his NFL experience, before diving into the recent "One Big Beautiful Bill" and its controversial tax reform change, which limits gambling loss deductions to 90%. Maloney pointed to ongoing bipartisan efforts, led by figures like Rep. Dina Titus, to restore full deductibility—potentially via attachments to bills like the NDAA or retroactively in 2026.
Maloney also notes several key wins for the industry include raising the slot tax reporting threshold from $1,200 to $2,000 (pending IRS implementation), extending 100% business depreciation and R&D expensing, restoring EBITDA for interest limitations, and maintaining the 21% corporate tax rate.
Shifting to responsible gambling, Joe addresses media-driven narratives of betting "out of control," including hotline spikes and prop bet scrutiny in states like Massachusetts. He advocates for evidence-based policies over blanket bans, highlighting industry-league collaborations.
On athlete harassment, Joe stresses empathy, noting 88% of abuse is non-betting related per NCAA data.
We also spend a lot of time on the AGA's new initiative, PlaySmartFromTheStart.org, launched to rebrand RG with a proactive framework: fostering the right mindset, game knowledge, and intentional play, and tying it in to Responsible Gaming Education Month (September) and urging industry promotion.
Visit the Play Smart From The Start website here.
We also discussed the upcoming G2E conference (October 6-9, Venetian, Las Vegas) — You can find more information and register for G2E here.
