How can we limit risks of sports betting on college campuses?
The college football season is set to begin, and with it comes increased interest in sports betting on college campuses.
In the spring, the Illinois legislature extended by one year the law permitting in-person gambling on in-state college sports. Given the need to generate revenue for state coffers, the question is not if, but when, online in-state college sports gambling will become legal.
There are numerous states (plus the District of Columbia) that have legalized sports betting. The attraction of drawing new revenue without raising taxes is encouraging such actions. Sports gambling has become so ubiquitous that it is difficult to visit any sports website without an opportunity to place a bet. Penn Entertainment has been rebranded as ESPN Bet, giving ESPN a place at the sports betting table.
Sports gambling on college campuses has been drawn into this fray. Young college-age men are attracted to the excitement associated with having money riding on games, with some believing they can make easy money gambling. The risk is that this excitement can grow into an addiction, bleeding them of their time and money.
Offering sports gambling on college games poses risks for student-athletes and the student body on their campus. When games for which student-athletes are participating can be affected by one shot, or “covering the spread” depends on a free throw being made or missed, student-athletes can be swayed in ways that can influence their performance on the court or playing field. What may seem like an innocent turnover may have been subtly orchestrated with under-the-table payoffs.
The good news is that with so many name, image and likeness funding opportunities available, student-athletes are less susceptible to such nefarious activities. Moreover, most students would not give such actions any thought. Yet all it takes is one student-athlete to tarnish the reputation of a season, creating veils of uncertainty as to the extent of such shenanigans that can affect all the athletic programs at a university.
For the student body, rooting for the home team may be more than showing school spirit when there is money riding on a game. Wins and losses get translated into real dollars that can raise tempers and competition in unhealthy ways.
Gambling companies sell their product as a leisure activity, offering the opportunity to place bets as a form of entertainment. They support responsible gambling and encourage people with a problem to reach out for help at 1-800-GAMBLER, a hotline run by the National Council on Problem Gambling.
There are several problems with such a position.
First, if a person has a problem with gambling, they may not recognize it until it has caused significant troubles in their life. Moreover, if they are addicted to gambling, they may be incapable of making rational decisions when it comes to gambling. Such people would never reach out for help until someone intervenes and they have no choice, often while facing overwhelming financial hardship, legal issues and/or family pressures.
Second, the unspoken truth is that gambling companies need problem gamblers so they can stay in business and remain profitable. Relying on people who gamble only for entertainment would not produce nearly $10 billion in revenue, as legal sportsbooks saw last year.
Third, states have a vested interest in the status quo. They relish the revenue generated by sports betting. Reining in gambling at this point would be near impossible, given its growing impact on state budgets.
So what can be done to limit the negative influence of sports gambling on college campuses?
We need to recognize that for some, problem gambling is a disease. Providing information on how it can be treated is invaluable. When student-athletes gamble, it can be akin to drinking and driving. Much as smoking on college campuses increased in the 1990s, then leveled off and dropped, similar programs and education to reduce gambling on college campuses are warranted. If a student wishes to participate in athletics, gambling of any sort should be off-limits. Mixing the two, even when different sports are involved, is risky.
The NCAA has clear policies that prohibit gambling among student-athletes. As sports gambling has become more accessible and ubiquitous, the challenge is uncovering when gambling is occurring and how the situation should be addressed on each campus. A University of Iowa and Iowa State University investigation of sports betting reflects such a challenge, with several current or former athletes criminally charged. The one bright spot was an absence of evidence of game manipulation.
Athletic directors and their coaches play a critical role in communicating zero tolerance policies on gambling and the risks that student-athletes take on for themselves and their team when they gamble, even if they bet infrequently and purely for entertainment.
Unified voices from leadership on campuses and across universities could help reduce the impact of gambling among all student-athletes. University leaders could provide a measure of safety that would give every student-athlete some protection in what has become the Wild West of gambling on college sports and on college campuses.
Illinois’ policy of only in-person gambling on in-state college sports provides light headwinds to strong gales of opportunities to place bets. Permitting online gambling is inevitable.
What is most disturbing is that with any addiction, there is a long-term cost of squandered human capital. This is a price that states appear willing to pay for the revenues they are collecting. Indeed, recouping such human capital will be far costlier in the long term than the revenue gained in the short term.
Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is a founding professor in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A data scientist, he applies his expertise in data-driven, risk-based decision-making to evaluate and inform public policy.
