Are Sports Betting Ads “All In” on Addiction?

Gambling,
Above: A screenshot of a sports betting ad about wagering on a “surprising hunch.” Source: YouTube. Used in accordance with Fair Use.

Nationwide, sports betting is now legal in 39 states — including Arkansas, where people, on average, wager more than a million dollars on sports every day.

As states have legalized sports betting, some gambling companies have actually produced advertisements that seem to promote compulsive gambling and other problem-gambling behavior.

For example, last year FanDuel released one commercial that showed people so focused on sports betting that they ignored everyone else around them.

Another ad promoted taking advantage of every opportunity to gamble.

This year, FanDuel has aired commercials encouraging people to gamble on “surprising” hunches — including powerful hunches that strike between football plays.

The ads may seem silly, but gamblers who ignore loved ones, wager nonstop, or place bets “on a hunch” quite possibly suffer from a gambling problem.

So why would a sports book showcase this type of behavior in its advertising?

As sports betting has become easier, millions of people are now in danger of being harmed by it.

Studies indicate people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems.

Young men are particularly hurt by sports gambling. Twenty-year-old males account for approximately 40% of calls to gambling addiction hotlines, and upwards of 20 million men are in debt or have been in debt as a result of sports betting.

And research now shows that the legalization of sports betting may be linked to serious financial problems in America — such as credit card debt, overdrafts, late payments on loans, lower credit scores, and higher bankruptcy rates.

Last year the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council reported an increase in calls for help with problem gambling largely driven by sports betting.

Sports betting is out of control and ruining lives. Tax revenue from casinos and sports betting has not improved Arkansas’ roads or boosted the economy. As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect 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.

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Declares January 22 ‘Day of Tears’ in Arkansas

Abortion, , , , ,

Last week Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a proclamation designating January 22, 2025, as the “Day of Tears.”

In 2021 the Arkansas General Assembly passed H.C.R. 1007 recognizing January 22 — the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous Roe v. Wade abortion decision — as The Day of Tears in Arkansas and encouraging Arkansans to lower their flags to half-staff every year on January 22.

Even though Roe v. Wade has been overturned and abortion is prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, it is good to set aside time to reflect on how abortion took the lives of women and unborn children for so many decades — and how many lives it still takes in America today.

Gov. Sanders’ proclamation says:

TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS COME – GREETINGS:

WHEREAS: Arkansas and its government acknowledge that we are all endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;

WHEREAS: On January 22,1973, the majority of the members of the United States Supreme Court wrongly ruled in its Roe v. Wade decision that abortion was a right secured by the United States Constitution;

WHEREAS: Before the United States Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, Arkansas had already enacted laws protecting women and unborn children from abortion; 

WHEREAS: From January 22, 1973, to June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade prevented Arkansas from protecting women and unborn children from abortion;

WHEREAS: In Act 310 of 2023 the 94th General Assembly estimated that during that time at least two hundred thirty-six thousand, two hundred forty-three (236,243) elective abortions occurred in this State, jeopardizing the health and safety of pregnant women and depriving these unborn children of their respective rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and

WHEREAS: The Ninety-Third General Assembly resolved in H.C.R. 1007 of 2021 that January 22 should be recognized in perpetuity as the “Day of Tears” in Arkansas and encouraged Arkansans to lower their flags to half-staff “to mourn the innocent unborn children who have lost their lives to abortion.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, Governor of the State of Arkansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Arkansas, do hereby proclaim January 22, 2025, as 

“THE DAY OF TEARS IN ARKANSAS”

You can download a copy of the proclamation here.

Family Council is deeply grateful to Gov. Sanders and the general assembly for recognizing January 22 as the Day of Tears in Arkansas, and we urge all of our friends to take time this month to remember the lives lost to abortion.

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ERA or Error? President Biden Calls Equal Rights Amendment ‘Law of the Land’

Legislation, LGBT, , ,

On Friday outgoing President Joe Biden made a surprising announcement declaring the Equal Rights Amendment “the law of the land.”

Congress referred the federal Equal Rights Amendment to the state legislatures for ratification in 1972. If approved by enough states, the measure would amend the U.S. Constitution to say, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

However, the amendment’s legal status has been in limbo for nearly 50 years, and federal courts have even ruled against adding it to the U.S. Constitution.

The Equal Rights Amendment is intended to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex, but its wording would likely cause a number of unintended consequences.

The ERA would arguably erase all distinctions between men and women in federal law.

That could affect everything from college fraternities and sororities at public universities to how men and women are housed in federal prisons to labor laws that protect women in the workplace to girls’ and boys’ athletics at public schools.

We’ve already seen how the transgender movement is threatening to destroy women’s sports in America. The Equal Rights Amendment would likely fuel that agenda.

States that have enacted measures similar to the ERA have even been forced to pay for abortions with taxpayer funds. In 2019, the ACLU told Congress, “the Equal Rights Amendment could provide an additional layer of protection against restrictions on abortion.”

Men and women should have equal rights under the law, but the ERA would likely fail to guarantee those rights.

That’s why major groups like National Right to Life, Concerned Women for America, and Eagle Forum oppose the federal Equal Rights Amendment.

That’s also why Family Council has opposed efforts to ratify the ERA in Arkansas as well.

President Biden cannot unilaterally decide that the Equal Rights Amendment is part of the U.S. Constitution. As he leaves office, it seems unlikely that the ERA will actually become “the law of the land.” Nevertheless, it’s important for Americans to understand how the amendment would likely hurt women, unborn children, and our country as a whole.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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