Tag: Sports Betting

Grant Funding Pushes for Better Research on Dangers of Sports Gambling

CNBC reports billionaires John and Laura Arnold are offering more than $2 million in research grants to universities to study the risks of online sports betting.

The grants will help researchers “look at the effect of gambling on financial well-being, household formation, mental health and consumer behavior.”

Thanks to internet gambling, placing a bet is now as easy as sending a text.

Researchers say more than half of men ages 18 – 49 now have an active sportsbook account online. Arkansans wagered a record $86.5 million in March alone this year.

But experts and policymakers are raising serious concerns about the impact this type of gambling may be having on our society.

A study published last month found gambling disorder diagnoses have risen more than 60% in states that legalized sports betting. Researchers said the largest increase in gambling disorders was found among young adults ages 18 – 29.

People who gamble on sports are at an increased risk of suffering from gambling problems. When sports betting happens online or on a smartphone, the rate is even higher.

Mobile sports betting apps use addictive technology to hook people — especially young adults. A recent report from mental health professionals at Baptist Health South Florida found that internet gambling platforms are engineered to keep people engaged, using instant rewards and near-misses to trigger the same brain chemistry as other addictions.

Bankruptcy attorneys across the country say online sports betting is driving a surge in personal bankruptcies — especially among young men in their 20s and 30s — and researchers at UCLA estimate that online sportsbooks are linked to an increase of roughly 30,000 more bankruptcies per year nationwide.

Experts are also sounding the alarm over “prediction markets” that they say are not regulated under state gambling laws, but are still just as addictive as other forms of online gambling.

Maybe all of this is part of the reason why polling now shows most Americans do not believe sports betting has been good for society or good for sports.

Arkansas families need to understand that sports betting isn’t harmless entertainment — it’s predatory, and it’s growing.

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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Class Action Lawsuit Calls Robinhood’s “Prediction Market” an “Unlicensed Sports Gambling Operation”

A class action lawsuit filed in California alleges investment platform Robinhood is “operating an unlicensed sports gambling operation” via so-called “prediction markets.”

Prediction markets exploit loopholes in federal law to bring casino-style gambling to anyone with a smartphone. Whereas traditional gambling operates under state oversight and state law, prediction market platforms claim protection under federal commodities laws. The companies running these platforms claim they just let people “invest” in the outcome of a ballgame, tomorrow’s weather, foreign policy, and so on.

But calling it an “investment” does not change reality. It’s gambling. But unlike other forms of gambling, “prediction markets” are not currently accountable to state gambling laws.

The lawsuit filed against Robinhood earlier this month alleges:

Robinhood’s customers are led to believe that sports event contracts are a modern, sophisticated form of investing on a federally regulated commodities exchange that can be accessed on a phone.

In reality, the sports event contracts Robinhood sells are ordinary, old-fashioned bets or wagers on the outcomes of sporting events (i.e., gaming). By operating an unlicensed sports gambling operation, Robinhood has violated state gambling laws and regulations, engaged in deceptive conduct, and unjustly enriched itself at the expense of millions of consumers. . . .

Unlike traditional gambling sites that require cash deposits for gambling, Robinhood enables brokerage clients to gamble against margin on security positions, exposing customers to substantial losses on their portfolios. Robinhood further entices its customers to gamble by strongly encouraging them to keep their assets with Robinhood rather than removing them from the platform.

We have written before about how prediction markets are particularly troubling because they operate without state oversight. When prediction market platforms let users trade hundreds of millions of dollars on the Super Bowl game outcomes — plus millions more on trivial bets like which song would play first at halftime — that is not investing. That is gambling.

And this kind of predatory gambling destroys families. Sports betting is out of control. It’s ruining lives and corrupting sports. Studies indicate people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems. The damage is worse when the sports betting happens online.

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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