Ever since the Supreme Court revoked a nationwide ban on sports betting in 2018, as it was deemed unconstitutional, the American People have become busy. Before then, the only place where sports gambling was truly legal was in the State of Nevada. Yet, of course, people would still place bets through websites such as offshore betting or even through friends.
Yet for the past four years, one by one, each State has been building out their own legislation and rules on how to pass a legalized sports betting law. In fact, it almost seemed as if they were anticipating this turn of events since it only took a few weeks for the first State (after Nevada) to pass a law allowing for betting on sports to be legally possible. So today, we find ourselves with over 30 States, as well as Washington D.C., that have developed some legislation allowing for sports betting in some capacity.
Keep in mind that it isn’t a universal set of rules across the States. For example, some states allow betting to be done online and offline, while others only allow offline gambling in specialized locations.
Regardless of these differences, the sports gambling industry has become a massive industry that has generated a slew of revenues quickly. Since the ban over the nation was lifted, it’s been calculated that $150 billion has been wagered on sports events overall. The report comes together from Legal Sports Report.
With that said, the sports gambling industry in the U.S. remains in its infancy, with a lot of room to grow. States such as California recently attempted to pass their own legislation in November. Either focusing only on tribal casinos and thus having to be in person to place a wager or opening the doors for statewide online betting.
Why a discussion even exists
While sports betting has grown significantly and quickly while at the same time have allowed for the States to also gain their fair share through taxation, there are some that are still questioning and challenging sports betting and its legal standing.
The biggest argument that has come across regarding the legalization of sports betting is while it has rapidly grown, there has also been an increase in addiction-related issues with gambling. Sports betting apparently has a higher addiction rate than other types of gambling. This is due to a few reasons, one of them being that people feel connected with their sports teams.
They were fans beforehand, so betting on them only made sense, even if they didn’t win those bets. For now, though, the number of those getting into a serious gambling problem is not as big as percentage-wise yet. Yet that may change because there are so many more doing sports betting.
On the other side of the spectrum, specifically, those in favour of legalized sports betting, State that the laws are simply bringing sports betting that was already happening elsewhere, whether legal or not. Furthermore, now that everything is clearly regulated and it’s possible to track sports betting legally, it’s actually going to be much simpler to implement protection against those teetering towards addictive behaviours.
And there will be plenty of funding for that as well since there’s already been around $1.7 billion in taxes related to gambling already collected in four years, and that number will grow as more States grow their betting industries. The money can be used to fund anything within the State, even addiction-related programs, or to support local public schools and sports initiatives.
The California legislation is already considering using half a billion dollars per year specifically to work toward reducing and eliminating homelessness within the State.
Either way, the decision should always be up to the individual whether to partake in gambling or not, and not through any governmental impact.
How does it currently look in California?
A lot of money has been poured into passing sports betting and regulating it in California. $500 million, to be exact. Even with so much funding for the initiative to pass, the initiative ended up not passing in November 2022 for either proposition 26 or proposition 27.
Taking a look at different viewpoints on sports betting
Those that are in favour
Legal Sports betting is a reality already. So don’t let special interest groups make the rules
“now is the time to build a sports betting system that makes sense. Legislators should handle it, versus casinos and gambling operators. Otherwise, we take away the power from our elected officials who should be handling this.” — Marek Warszawski, Fresno Bee
Americans pride their freedom, and that means having the freedom to place a bet
“Financial problems aside, legal sports betting means giving people a choice to wager. That’s what makes America great because it continues to reinforce this mentality of freedom, even if it’s the freedom to gamble.— Samuel Freeman, Arkansas Traveler
Legalization enables positive controls that can end up being a force of good
“Many fans already want to place a bet for their team. They should have the right to take that action. How we approach legalization can help make betting not such a taboo. This ranges from having an age limit, managing advertising, banning immediate bets made during a game or in-game, and putting in a checks system to ensure people can afford to bet, all help to kill the problems that typically plague sports betting. – Richard A. Daynard, Mark A. Gottlieb, and Harry Levant, Boston Globe
Ironically, just because sports betting becomes legal doesn’t mean that the number of people betting will change
‘’Let’s not always assume the worst, with a country of gambling addicts selling whatever they can get to place another bet on their smartphone. Sports betting is already happening. Take a look at the Super Bowl. It’s estimated that the amount bet on that event alone is in the billions. Whether laws are passed or not, people will always bet on sports.” – Jay Caspian Kang, New York Times
It’s a huge loss of tax revenue for States that always need better sources
“Sports betting builds an opportunity for a fresh revenue stream that can help combat underfunded initiatives. If we don’t do this, we as a State falter and leave millions of dollars worth of gambling tax alone.” – Editorial, Tulsa World
Everyone wins when there’s transparency with sports betting
“No matter how we look at it, sports and gambling have always happened as a pair. The only difference is that without any regulations, people have to find alternative, often illegal options, for them to be able to place their bets, which also have led to notorious scandals. A more legalized approach to sports betting will help maintain the integrity of the games, instead of causing opportunities to ruin them” — Eric Boehm, Reason
Those who aren’t in favour of Sports Betting
We don’t yet know what the impact will be on future generations
“The digital age has eliminated delayed gratification when it comes to betting legally. It was a journey versus how it is now. Now if you find yourself in a state which has legal online sports betting, you can do it from the comfortable confines of your home, without even getting up.” — Eric Adelson, Washington Post
The legalization of gambling will enable more people to get exposed to gambling – and get addicted
“When gambling was illegal, it blocked millions from doing sports wagering. Now, these millions will be easily exposed and consider it a normal option while only funnelling funds to global corporations and the States. All because there was a small portion of the overall population that were regular ‘’immoral’’ gamblers.” — Matthew Walther, The Atlantic
We’re destroying our principles for the almighty dollar
“Whatever principles we may have get thrown out for the sake of making money. Legalized gambling will only enable people to spend more than they have when wagering and could also push sports players to commit to cheating. No matter what, there are no winners.”— Ted Diadiun, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Only the industry will benefit. Everyone else will suffer
“There are special interests already happening. This isn’t backed by people doing this for the greater good. The people pushing this are betting on that regardless of how society handles it. The cost that will first be paid is the growth of addiction to sports betting throughout the nation.” — Editorial, Mercury News
We’re going to see an explosion of gambling addicts in the U.S.
“People forget there’s a portion of the population that’s already addicted to gambling; they just don’t get as much attention. Yet, with this legalization, we’re going to see abuse of the system and gamblers developing problems. There’s also numerous operators giving them the opportunity.” — Timothy L. O’Brien, Bloomberg
Will there be huge tax benefits?
“The black market of sports betting isn’t going away any time soon, which means those tax earnings on winnings may come in slower than we think. Look back at when cannabis became legalized and how that would bring a flush of tax revenues and funding to support the abuse of cannabis and educate youth. Instead, the revenues came in below expectations, and the tax rates ended up being lowered. — Editorial, Los Angeles Times
