A recent survey confirms what we have been saying for a long time: Sports betting is corrupting college athletics and exploiting student-athletes.
Sports betting is legal in 39 states — including Arkansas, where people wager an average of $2.5 million on sports every single day.
But a study published in the Journal of Gambling Studies this summer found student-athletes are wagering on fantasy sports betting, parlay bets, live in-game betting, and prop bets — nearly all of it conducted through mobile phones and online gambling apps.
Researchers examining gambling trends among more than 100,000 NCAA student-athletes from 2004 through 2024.
The study reminds us how sports betting is corrupting sports and ruining lives.
The NCAA has opened investigations into dozens of student-athletes for sports betting violations. In fact, it’s now almost routine for the NCAA to announce player suspensions for student-athletes who schemed to help each other win bets by, for example, missing free throws or scoring fewer points than expected in some games.
Federal prosecutors have announced indictments in connection with alleged bribery and point-shaving schemes to fix college basketball games.
Nearly half of Division I men’s basketball players say they have faced harassment from bettors on social media.
Sports betting isn’t harmless entertainment — it’s predatory, and it’s growing.
Family Council has identified practical ways Arkansas could protect families from predatory sports betting — like prohibiting sportsbooks from accepting credit cards or offering prop bets and parlays.
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.
