Are Professional Sports Leagues Finally Having Second Thoughts on Gambling?

A recent column at City Journal suggests the NBA and others may finally be having second thoughts about legalized gambling on sports.

In less than a decade, sports betting has become legal to varying degrees across most of America — including Arkansas, where people are on track to wager nearly a billion dollars on sports alone this year. But evidence shows sports betting may have unintended consequences. Gambling disorder diagnoses have spiked in states with legalized sports betting, and corruption scandals have become a serious problem.

City Journal notes that the NBA, other professional sports leagues, and state officials are reconsidering legalized sports betting amid growing concerns about gambling addiction, financial harm, and cheating. The NBA reportedly is banning certain prop bets and parlays in the wake of a federal indictment against former NBA players for “sports bribery, illegal betting, and money laundering conspiracies.”

The NCAA has opened investigations into dozens of student-athletes for sports betting violations. College basketball players have been accused of scheming to help each other win bets they placed on one another. Other college athletes say they have been harassed by gamblers who lost bets. Stories like these are part of the reason the NCAA has urged policymakers to eliminate individual prop bets on players.

We have written before about how Americans increasingly see sports betting as a bad bet all around. It’s corrupting sports and ruining lives.

The Institute for Family Studies (IFS) reports almost one in four young men say they gamble daily. That’s concerning, because research shows that young men who wager on sports may be at increased risk of physical and mental harm. Some studies have also linked legal sports betting to divorce, binge drinking, domestic violence, and violent crime.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, researchers at UCLA, and bankruptcy attorneys across the country all say sports betting is driving a wave of financial problems like credit card delinquencies and bankruptcies.

Does anyone actually believe Arkansans can afford to wager millions of dollars on sports every month?

Family Council has prepared a list of practical, common-sense steps Arkansas could take to address predatory sports betting.

As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise, gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers. Photo Credit: Focal Foto (CC BY-NC 2.0).