Legalizing Sport Betting

A portion of this essay appeared in New York Times Room for Debate.

           The rationales for states legalizing sport betting range from the de-criminalization associated with sport betting to increasing tax revenue from the revenues generated from sport betting. In 2012, the Nevada Gaming Commission reported that $3.45 billion was legally wagered in its state’s Casinos in sport bets alone.  It is also estimated that around $380 billion is illegally wagered on sports betting. The Super Bowl is considered the mega-event for sport betting with estimates around $8 billion wagered each year. Clearly, significant revenue is generated in sport betting, which is cause for many states to consider the legalization of sport wagering.

            However, there are other factors to consider beyond the potential tax revenue and the contribution these revenues can make towards education and other civic services.  It is customary to see a rise in detrimental behaviors and physical and/or mental health issues with the legalization of certain social practices; e.g. alcohol, gambling, marijuana, etc.  For example, it has been documented that crime rates associated with the use of alcohol increased after prohibition.  The increase legalization of sport betting can witness a similar fate, where we experience an increase in impulse control disorders and the negative behaviors that are byproducts of this disorder.  As it relate specifically to sport, it can also encourage individuals to try and influence the outcome of the game by enticing players or officials with money.  It can encourage athletes to bet on games in which they compete, regardless of policies in place that prohibit this practice; such as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.

            In light of the various challenges professional sports are encountering, the increase legalization of sport betting can add another layer of complications.  Baseball is trying to manage the complications of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs); the NFL, although financially fit, concussion litigations may present an ongoing disruption; the NBA is struggling to fill the void of Air Jordan; and the NHL is two years removed from a lockout.  Now add the threat to the integrity of the game to these complications, and you have a disaster waiting to happen.

            Until our collective morality is at a level of maturity to handle the dysfunctionalism gambling induces the legalization of sport betting should be restricted.  Although gambling is big business, state revenues should not have to depend on the selling of false hopes or profiting off pathology.  The short-term gains of legalizing sport betting in more states are not worth the long-term complication it will create for the professional leagues, specifically, and most importantly, the complications it will add to many communities that are already challenged with other social pathologies.