Driven by Sports Betting, Arkansas Problem Gambling Council Reports Spike in Calls for Help

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KATV reports the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council has seen a 22% increase in calls for help in 2024:

Between sports, horse racing, and casinos, the thrill of a possible big-money win keeps Arkansans coming back for more.

“The love of the game, the love of sports, but it’s also with the advancement of technology,” said Vena Schexnayder of the APGC. “Right now, we carry little casinos in our pocket and that’s our phones.”

Schexnayder said this silent addiction can get out of hand.

Gambling via smart phone is relatively new in Arkansas. In 2022 lawmakers approved a state rule change to permit sports betting online via smart phones and other mobile devices from anywhere in Arkansas. Family Council strongly opposed that rule change.

Sports betting is particularly out of hand nationwide, and some sports betting companies have actually produced ads that seem to promote problem-gambling behavior — like commercials that show people so fixated on sports betting that they ignore everyone else around them or encouraging people to take advantage of every opportunity to gamble.

People who gamble online face a serious risk of developing a gambling addiction, and some research indicates that people who engage in sports betting are twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems.

You can watch KATV’s news segment below.

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Small Colleges in the U.S. Vote Overwhelmingly to Protect Women’s Sports

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On Monday the National Association of of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced a policy that should prevent male athletes from competing in women’s collegiate sports.

The NAIA is a governing body primarily for small colleges and universities. According to its website, the NAIA has 241 member schools — including six schools in Arkansas:

  • Central Baptist College in Conway
  • Williams Baptist University in Walnut Ridge
  • John Brown University in Siloam Springs
  • Philander Smith College in Little Rock
  • Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock
  • Crowley’s Ridge College in Paragould

The Associated Press reports the NAIA’s new participation policy says all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports, but only athletes whose biological sex is female and have not begun taking cross-sex hormones will be allowed to participate in women’s sports. The policy is set to go into effect in August.

We have written repeatedly about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

In particular, female cyclists, swimmers, powerlifters, sprinters, and others have seen their sports radically changed by biological males who identify and compete as women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports reverses 50 years of advancements for women, and it hampers girls’ abilities to compete for athletic scholarships.

It hurts their professional opportunities as adults. In some sports, it can even be dangerous.

That’s part of the reason why the North American Grappling Association clarified its competition policy last fall, saying biological males must compete against other men, regardless of their gender identity.

And earlier this year the professional golf league NXXT Golf announced that only biological females would be eligible to participate in the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour.

Many states — including Arkansas — have enacted laws that preserve fairness in women’s sports.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school.

This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

It’s worth point out that public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans agreeing that athletes ought to compete according to their biological sex rather than their gender identity. Laws and policies preserving fairness in women’s sports reflect public opinion on this issue.

It’s good to see America’s colleges taking a stand to preserve fairness in women’s athletics at school.

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

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