WSJ Highlights Growing Concern Over Sports Gambling Scandals

Gambling,

Last week The Wall Street Journal highlighted how “spot-fixing” is a growing concern when it comes to gambling on professional sports.

“Spot-fixing” is a type of gambling fraud that involves manipulating small events during a game. Most of the time, spot-fixing is difficult to notice, because it centers on things that don’t clearly affect the outcome of the game — like a specific pitch or kick in a ballgame.

Spot-fixing is particularly concerning given that modern sports betting lets gamblers wager on nearly every aspect of a game — not just its final score.

The WSJ reports Major League Baseball recently “placed Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz on leave amid an investigation into suspicious betting activity surrounding his pitches.” Observers noticed unusual wagers placed on specific pitches that Ortiz threw outside the strike zone during ballgames on June 15 and 27. The incident is currently under investigation.

Thanks to smartphones, sports betting it’s now possible for people to gamble — and lose — on sporting events from anywhere with Wi-Fi or cell service.

Nationwide, sports betting is now legal in most states — including Arkansas. Last March, Arkansans wagered more than $2 million per day, on average, on sports betting.

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

Young men in particular are hurt by sports betting. 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.

We’ve seen how sports betting companies often oppose safeguards and promote compulsive gambling. Last year the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council announced it had seen a 22% increase in calls for help — a spike driven largely by sports betting.

Scandals like spot-fixing corrupt sporting events and erode public trust in athletes and athletic programs, but there’s a much bigger problem in play. Sports gambling in general is a scourge, and it is ruining lives. As multi-billion dollar 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 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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Arkansas Lottery Still Betting Big on Scratch-Off Tickets

Arkansas Lottery,

The Arkansas Lottery still relies heavily on expensive scratch-off tickets for revenue.

Since 2009, the state-run lottery has developed a reputation for depending on flashy marketing as well as rolling out a steady stream of new scratch-off tickets to keep gamblers engaged. This month the lottery unveiled several new scratch-off tickets — including a Jurassic World themed ticket that sells for $10 each.

But scratch-off tickets are often associated with problem gambling and gambling addiction. The excitement of instantly winning makes scratch-offs particularly appealing — and potentially addictive — for many people.

In 2023, ABC News highlighted the harm that scratch-off tickets can cause, writing:

A 2022 nationwide investigation of state lotteries by the Howard Center For Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland found stores that sell tickets are disproportionately clustered in lower-income communities in nearly every state where the game is played. . . .

Les Bernal, the national director for the nonprofit group Stop Predatory Gambling, told ABC News that while states use the revenue from lottery sales to fund services like education, they are doing so off the backs of low-income residents.

We have written before about how expensive scratch-off tickets prey on the truly desperate. They entice Arkansans to spend a lot of money on a single lottery ticket in hopes of a big payout, but more often than not, people lose.

Statistically, people who buy a $10 or $20 lottery ticket stand to lose their money roughly two-thirds of the time.

Unfortunately, the Arkansas Lottery has a long history of relying on expensive scratch-off tickets with long odds and large prizes to encourage people to gamble. The Arkansas Lottery’s most recent financial reports show the vast majority of its revenue comes from instant tickets.

Family Council has supported legislation in the past that would restructure the Arkansas Lottery’s budget to increase spending on education.

The state-run lottery could provide millions of dollars more in scholarship funding if it would simply reduce its prize budget, increase its scholarship budget, and quit relying so heavily on scratch-off tickets.

Unfortunately, there simply doesn’t seem to be much impetus to do that.

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

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State of Arkansas Offering $2M to Help Moms in Need

Abortion, , ,

The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration is accepting applications for the 2025-2026 Pregnancy Help Organizations Grant Program.

In April, Gov. Sanders signed Act 1006 budgeting $2 million in funding for grants to pregnancy help organizations.

Under Act 1006, grant money can go to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and other charitable organizations that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.

The State of Arkansas also can award funding to charities that promote infant and maternal wellness and reduce infant and maternal mortality by:

  • Providing nutritional information and/or nutritional counseling;
  • Providing prenatal vitamins;
  • Providing a list of prenatal medical care options;
  • Providing social, emotional, and/or material support; or
  • Providing referrals for WIC and community-based nutritional services, including food banks, food pantries, and food distribution centers.

The measure makes it clear that grant money will not go to abortionists or their affiliates.

Since 2022 Family Council has worked with the Arkansas Legislature and the governor to secure funding every year for pregnancy resource centers. These state-funded grants have helped support dozens of charities that assist women and children in Arkansas.

The grants are optional. It’s entirely up to pregnancy resource centers whether they want to apply for the money. Over the past three years, the funding has made a tremendous difference in communities across our state.

Since the 2022 Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade, lawmakers around the country have ramped up state funding for pregnancy help organizations. It’s good to pass laws protecting women and unborn children from abortion, but it’s important to take steps to support women with unplanned pregnancies. Arkansas’ grant program does exactly that.

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

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