Time to Call Off All Bets: The Scourge of Sports Gambling

 By John Stonestreet and Shane Morris - Posted at Breakpoint:

The addiction of gambling hits not just in dollars, but in human lives. 

A few years into widespread legalized sports gambling, the results are in, and it is clear that this industry is devastating for individuals, families, and even sports. In an article for The Atlantic, Charles Faith Lehman states the truth bluntly: “Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake.” The data supports that claim.

$35 billion in bets will be placed on NFL games alone this season. That is about a third more than last year, and 100% more than just six years ago, when sports gambling became legal (again). The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 effectively banned sports gambling in most places, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the law in 2018, paving the way for states to regulate their own industries. Today, in 38 states plus Washington, D.C., there are no meaningful regulations.

As a result, sportsbooks have raked in over $300 billion in just six years. Obviously, that money did not come from the winners. According to Lehman, the return of sports gambling “has caused a wave of financial and familial misery” that “disproportionately falls on the most economically precarious households.” In other words, those who have the least money to lose do the vast majority of losing.

The damage is enormous. For every dollar spent on betting, household investing fell by an average of two dollars. Since 2018, there have been large increases in over-drafted bank accounts and maxed out credit cards. Legalized sports gambling has increased “the risk that a household goes bankrupt by 25 to 30 percent,” and it has caused debt delinquency to surge.



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