Study Reminds Us How Sports Betting Corrupts College Athletics

Gambling,

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.

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Colorado Hedging its Bets in the Wake of Sports Gambling Problems

Gambling,

Recent reports underscore why the State of Colorado is hedging its bets in the wake of serious problems from the expansion of sports gambling.

Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 39 states — including Arkansas, where people are on track to wager nearly a billion dollars this year on sports betting alone. But a growing body of evidence shows this type of gambling is causing serious financial harm.

Westword reports that sportsbooks are causing problems in Colorado, writing:

“Coloradans placed nearly $6.45 billion in sports bets in the last year, according to the state Division of Gaming. That’s an all-time high, as Colorado has set a new annual record every fiscal year since online sportsbooks opened. In total, the state’s residents have wagered more than $32.55 billion since 2020.

“Calls and texts to Colorado’s gambling addiction helpline jumped 45% from 2020 to 2021, in the first year of legal sports betting, according to the Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado, which manages the helpline. In 2025, intakes from the helpline doubled compared to 2021, says Jamie Glick, executive director of the coalition. …

“In states that legalized sports betting, gambling disorder diagnoses increased by more than 60% from 2018 to 2026, according to a study by Epic Research. National research shows that sports gambling states experienced more bankruptcy filings, higher debt collection amounts, lower credit scores and more credit delinquencies. Some studies link legal sports betting to higher rates of domestic violence following upset losses.”

Last month news outlets reported, Colorado enacted a law preventing gamblers from using credit cards to fund sports betting apps, and limiting sportsbook deposits to six per day. The new rules are the result of a bipartisan bill passed in May after lawmakers grew alarmed by rising addiction rates — especially among young men and boys.

Studies show more than half of men ages 18 – 49 now have an active sportsbook account online, and bankruptcy attorneys across the country say online sports betting is driving a surge in personal bankruptcies among young men in their 20s and 30s.

Chad Van Horn, a bankruptcy attorney in Florida, recently told Business Insider that roughly 15% of his clients now carry gambling-related debt — and that it piles up faster than any other type of debt he sees.

He described clients going from zero to $25,000 in credit card debt in a matter of months. “The debt builds incredibly fast because people aren’t gambling with cash; they’re gambling with borrowed money,” Van Horn said.

Ed Boltz, a bankruptcy attorney in North Carolina, said the same thing, noting that, “It has been astonishing, the speed in which people can fall into this.”

Scientific 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 increases in divorce, binge drinking, domestic violence, and violent crime.

And a 2025 survey found one in four sports bettors worry that they cannot control their gambling.

Legalized gambling has become a blight nationwide — including Arkansas. Tax revenue from sports betting has not improved Arkansas’ roads or boosted the economy. And unless Arkansas’ lawmakers and its people take a stand, gambling addiction is simply going to continue wrecking lives and hurting families across our state.

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

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Arkansans On Track to Wager Almost $1 Billion on Sports This Year

Gambling, ,

An analysis from Family Council shows Arkansans could wager almost a billion dollars on sports betting this year.

The figure does not take into account “prediction market” wagers on sports or illegal sports betting.

Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 39 states — including Arkansas — but a growing body of evidence shows this type of gambling is causing serious financial harm.

Last week, Family Council reported that data from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration shows that from January 1 through July 31, sports bets totaled more than $529 million — an average of roughly $2.5 million per day.

At that rate, Arkansas is on track to wager as much as $912.5 million on sports by the end of December. Even if that daily average were cut in half this fall, Arkansas’ sports betting for the year would still top $700 million.

That estimate does not include “prediction markets” that exploit loopholes in federal law to bring casino-style gambling to anyone with a smartphone. We have written before about how the companies running “prediction markets” claim they just let people “invest” in the future outcome of a ballgame. But calling it an “investment” does not change what it is: It’s gambling.

Studies show people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems. When sports gambling happens online, the rate is even higher.

More than half of men ages 18-49 now have an active sportsbook account online, and the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) reports almost one in four young men say they gamble daily.

A study by Northwestern University found that for every dollar spent on sports betting, household investment falls by an average of $2.

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.

Sports betting is out of control. It’s corrupting sports, and it’s ruining lives.

Can Arkansas really afford to wager a billion dollars on sports every year?

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.

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