The Evolution of Sports Betting

The majority of my friends participate in various kinds of weekly or daily sports gambling. Unfortunately, I know a couple people who lost almost all (if not all) of their money simply because they could not stop, even though their losses greatly outnumbered their wins. Some of them became bookies (to make more money to bet away), while others were finally forced to stop. Even my friends who are responsible gamblers take big hits more often than they want to admit, and I do not know anybody who has won more than they have lost. Personally, I do not bet on sports because I feel that gambling is one of the worst addictions someone can have, and it is a quick way to lose money. 

In 1992, congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which was essentially a ban on sports betting in the United States. This act came when more and more states were considering legalizing sports betting, so congress was clearly concerned about the expansion of gambling in the US. However, just three and a half years ago, this act was repealed as it was deemed unconstitutional. Now, sports betting has been legalized by more than a dozen states, and gambling numbers have taken off. So I wondered why the sudden law change was allowed to happen. Why has sports betting gone from being illegal to becoming one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the US?

In 1919, the infamous “Blacksox scandal” occurred, where eight members of the Chicago Whitesox purposefully lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money. The Whitesox were favorites to win the series, so those who knew about the scandal were able to bet large amounts on the Reds and win big (Wolohan). From 1947-1951, about 35 players fixed at least 86 college basketball games, which usually involved not covering the point spread on purpose so that gamblers could make money (Wolohan). Even here at Boston College, in 1978, members of the Men’s basketball team worked with the New York City mafia to participate in point shaving and “game fixing” in order to illegally make money (Wolohan). While these are only some of the big scandals that have occurred throughout history, who knows exactly how many people got away with smaller sports gambling scandals. Crimes like these made people realize that we needed a change; we couldn’t let betting ruin the sports we love. When PASPA was passed in 1992, various leagues fittingly cited the “integrity of the game” (Dorson). However, this deepened my question of why our society has gone back in the other direction. Are we no longer concerned with the integrity of the game?

So why was PASPA repealed? In 2012 New Jersey tried to legalize sports betting by adding an amendment to their state constitution (Wilson). As a result, the NCAA, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NFL all filed lawsuits against New Jersey (Wilson). After New Jersey lost their case, they appealed and ultimately won under the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court viewed PASPA as unconstitutional because it violated the anti-commandeering law, which states, “[t]he powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” (Wilson). Essentially, since the constitution does not prohibit sports gambling, Congress may “regulate sports gambling directly,” but if they decide not to, then the states can do whatever they want (Wilson). This ruling is the core reason that sports betting has been taken to such heights, as it opened the gates for New Jersey, and all other states, to legalize sports gambling. However, this decision can still allow the Congress to set up “a federal regulatory [sports gambling] system” if it wishes, which would exercise their right to regulate sports betting and take the power back from the states (Wilson).

So now we know the core reason behind the legality of sports betting. I continued looking into the “big picture” of sports betting in the country, and found that it has already had several economic impacts, which has led more states to consider legalizing betting. The largest impact is the tax revenue. In 2020, New Jersey brought in $49.4 million in tax revenue from sports betting, and Pennsylvania brought in $38.6 million (Brainerd). In addition, sports betting has created tens of thousands of jobs, contributed billions of dollars to the salaries of these workers, and increased national GDP by billions (Space Coast Daily). While this is great news for our economy, I wondered about the cost involved. For example, in 2009 Delaware wanted to legalize sports gambling (they were exempt under PASPA) by “[proposing] a lottery game” in order to help with their unexpected “shortfall in state tax revenues” (Wolohan). This made me wonder if it is ethical for states to legalize sports gambling and watch people lose tons of money for the purpose of raising tax revenues? While some would say that it is not a problem because all they are doing is providing their residents with a new entertainment option, others would say that it is not ethical because they are purposefully making money off of people’s losses. Although I believe that it is unethical, the only thing certain is that the more states that legalize sports betting, the stronger our economy becomes. 

At this point, I started to find topics about the psychology of sports gambling. In the library, I came across a book called “Psychology of gambling,” in which Edmund Bergler describes both conscious and unconscious reasons that people love to gamble, and how they interact with each other. Bergler begins by discussing how the majority of gamblers are attempting to make a “quick fortune,” and how they are “glib with examples that allegedly prove it is possible to get rich by gambling.” This idea is one that I believe is front and center for sports bettors. Our world has become too focused on making the greatest amount of money with the least amount of work. Online there are hundreds of suggestions for how to make money with minimal effort, even without a job. Sports betting is one of the easiest ways to do this, because it can be done from the couch while eating a bag of Cheetos. Who wouldn’t want to make money while doing nothing? According to Bergler, the “myth of the eternally lucky gambler” further drives this reasoning. People who bet on sports only want to look at the positive outcomes, and ignore the negatives. I have never heard any of my friends say that they stopped betting on sports because they lost, because that is not enough of a reason for them to stop. However, one small win is enough for them to convince themselves that it is all working out, which I cannot understand. I have had friends tell me that one medium or big win convinces them to bet everyday for at least another week (about 1-2 bets per day), even if they keep losing afterwards. It is only after this week that they may slow down, but losing seems to make them more determined to keep going, because they want to win their money back. Why is this how sports gamblers react?

I believe that the answer lies in another point that came up all throughout my research: sports betting provides a thrilling and entertaining experience that cannot be duplicated. I had never considered this reason because when I am watching a game with big implications for my fantasy football team, I am much more nervous than excited. Most people who bet on sports love the thrill of watching live sports, and betting gives them more of a reason to watch sports than they already had. While everybody has their favorite teams, if they aren’t playing, then watching sports is not as exciting. Sports betting can get you “in the mood to cheer and get excited for a game that you normally would be less interested in”(GamblingSites). I have seen this firsthand countless times. Of course my friends are a little nervous when they bet, but they get so pumped up that you could never tell. It truly baffles me that they aren’t much more nervous than excited, like I am. I realized that if they are enjoying the thrill of a game because of a wager, and then they win money, they are essentially experiencing two great joys at once. No wonder they feel like they are doing well and keep betting, even if this was one win out of many bets. At the same time, if they lose, the thrill of watching the game sticks with them, and they develop that new desire to win their money back. As a result, they want to go make another bet. As Berlger puts it, “only the success is remembered, the failure is forgotten.”

While digging deeper, I came across a unique article by Christian Nyemcsok that described the reasons that children and teenagers would bet on sports as opposed to other forms of gambling if they were legally old enough. Many stated that they would bet because “‘[they] know the teams well’ or [they know] the technical statistics associated with the sport” (Nyemcsok). These kids, and adults who bet, see sports betting as a way of gambling that gives them more of a chance to win money than traditional casino gambling, simply because they have more knowledge about what they are betting on. When you play the lottery, there is no information that can help, as it is completely based on chance. But betting on sports is much more practical in bettors’ minds because they believe that they have an edge, even if that edge comes with a possible disadvantage if any information or line of reasoning is incorrect. However, similarly to how the gambler chooses to forget his losses, I believe he also chooses to forget the possibility of this disadvantage. When talking with my friends I found out that this is the case. They were all so confident in their knowledge of the game that they did not think of anything else. When I started to challenge their reasons for picking a winner on a recent bet, all they said was that I was wrong and then they gave me their argument again. If it occurred to them that they could be wrong, they did not show it. As it turned out afterwards, they were indeed wrong, and lost their money. They were so confident in their knowledge that they were almost blind to the fact that they could lose money. This is a dangerous thing for a gambler to forget.

Nyemcsok’s article brought up one other interesting idea that is seen in every industry: advertising. Even though sports betting was legalized only three and a half years ago, I feel like I have been seeing advertisements for sportsbooks such as DraftKings for as long as I can remember, indicating just how widespread they have become in recent years. The obvious conclusion is that the more ads that people see, the more they will bet. In Nyemcsok’s study, an eleven year old boy was asked with which brand would he bet if he could, and his response was: “Sportsbet, because if you bet with them you can get your money back.” It is deals like this that draw so many people to bet on sports. And, as I have discussed, once you start, it is hard to stop. Remember that “one win” that can convince bettors to keep betting for a long time? Some sports books are guaranteeing this win on the first bet placed, no matter what. This marketing strategy has proved to be extremely effective in bringing in and retaining sports gamblers, as a few of my friends have started because of similar promises. Even I was tempted to bet once or twice because I was literally being told that I could not lose. However, we all know how this would end for the boy. While he might get his money back on his first or second loss, will Sportsbet always give money back? Of course not. How would Sportsbet make any money? But again, even giving money back once or twice is enough to hook gamblers on a particular sportsbook, so they keep placing their bets. 

In the United States, Sports betting is becoming a vicious road for people to go down. Once they start betting, it is so hard to stop that they bet and lose much more money than they initially expected. When I started this essay, I was hoping to uncover one large, overlying reason that sports gambling has become so popular. However, I have decided that it is simply a mix of several smaller reasons, all of which were allowed to come to fruition because of what was written in the constitution centuries ago and the current motivations of the states. Advertisements, the ability to make easy money, and knowing sports well all bring people to start betting, and the thrill of the experience and the occasional victories keep them betting. Are there probably lots more smaller reasons that are specific to individual people? Of course there are, but I am satisfied with my explanation. I am very interested to see how long sports betting continues to take off at the same rate until it begins to level out. Or will it never level out?

Works Cited

Bergler, Edmund. Psychology of Gambling. International Universities Press, 1958

Brainerd, Jackson. “The Early Bets are in: Is Sports Betting Paying Off?” National Conference of State Legistlators. 3/1/2021, https://www.ncsl.org/research/fiscal-policy/the-early-bets-ar E-in-is-sports-betting-paying-off.aspx

Dorson, Jill R. “What is PASPA, the Federal Ban on Sports Betting?” Sportshandle, 3/15/2021,https://sportshandle.com/what-is-paspa-sports-betting-ban-professional-amateur-sports/

GamblingSites Content Authors. “Why bet on Sports?- the Benefits of Sports Betting.”GamblingSites, 2021, https://www.gamblingsites.org/sports-betting/beginners-guide/benefits/.

Nyemcsok, Christian, et al. “Young People’s Recall and Perceptions of Gambling Advertising and Intentions to Gamble on Sport.” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 7, no. 4, Dec. 2018, pp. 1068+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A569457712/AONE?u=mlin_m_bostcoll&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=83f18e98. Accessed 28 Oct. 2021.

Space Coast Daily. “How Sports Betting Affects the Economy.” Space Coast Daily, 9/10/2021,https://spacecoastdaily.com/2021/09/how-sports-betting-affects-the-economy/.

Wilson, Dave. “Massachusetts at the Forefront: How to Protect the Most Vulnerable Group in a Post-Legal Sports Betting World-NCAA Student-Athletes.” UMass Law Review, vol. 15, no. 1, spring 2020, pp. 124+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A627070284/ AONE?u=mlin_m_bostcoll&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=bd7604c4. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.

Wolohan, John T. “Sports betting in the United States.” The International Sports Law Journal, no. 3-4, July-Oct. 2009, pp. 124+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A249138225/AONE?u=mlin_m_bostcoll&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=9f6216d4. Accessed 26 Oct. 2021.