Friday, December 27, 2024

Sports gambling presents problems for gamblers, athletes, and sports

 Sports betting has some potentially dire implications both for betters and for athletes and sports. Gamblers can find in-app gambling while the game is going on addictive."Prop" bets on the performance of particular athletes during the game, can also subject athletes to pressures that may be at odds with their incentives arising simply from the rules of the game. And this may open up sports to gambling and point-shaving scandals that have been vigorously suppressed in the past.

Here's a variety of headlines (in sufficient number that I won't summarize the accompanying stories, but you can click through to see them).

The Guardian:

‘A serious disease’: Congress weighs federal gambling crackdown amid growing concerns
With sports betting now legal in 38 states, experts worry that gambling addiction is on the rise 
by Callum Jones 


NPR:

The president of the NCAA calls for a ban on 'prop bets' in college sports,  by Becky Sullivan
Becky Sullivan

The Atlantic:

Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake. The evidence is convincing: The betting industry is ruining lives.  By Charles Fain Lehman


Paul Krugman's substack:

America the Addicted. Gambling — on sports, stocks and crypto — is the new opioids.  by Paul Krugman

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