Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake

Of all the bad shit Temer (who came to power after Dilma's coup) did in Brazil, legalizing sports betting without any kind of regulation is probably the worst.

Any economic gain Brazil had after COVID have been funneled out to those sites. Can only hope Lula do something about it soon.

I didn't expect a struggle session or treat defending in a thread about international corporate-scale fucking sports gambling.

What is even left to be leftist about if someone is totally fine with ever-growing sports gambling conglomerates destroying the livelihoods (and even the lives) of individuals and everyone around them while performing one of the most direct poor-to-rich wealth transfers there is?

Gambling is perhaps the most egregious example of a naked wealth transfer from the poor to the rich

Episode 206: How the Gambling Industry Swallowed Sports Media Whole

I forget the exact stats on it, but gambling addiction is especially destructive to people's lives even compared with other major addictions. Also, on a petty treat-fiend note, it has made sports so much fucking shittier.

If I ever run into someone that's an absolutist for "let people enjoy things" thought terminating cliches, I am quite likely to point toward sports gambling the way Spongebob pointed at all the dirty diapers hidden around and outside the house.

And the ads are fucking everywhere. Entire train stations with every square inch of advertising space plastered with Jamie Foxx or whatever washed up scumbag piece of shit actor they could find.

Yes

Also, lotteries are horrid and seeing them used to fund basic state functions makes me gag.

there's a good (extremely bleak) trueanon on this ep 209 , also they recommended a book that sounds great addiction by design haven't read but on my list a while

It's also ruining sports, the advertising is everywhere and extremely tacky, while contributing to the financial ruin of the poorest in society. If I see another HollywoodBets advert I will

Specifically, for every $1 spent on betting, households put $2 less into investment accounts. States see big increases in the risk of overdrafting a bank account or maxing out a credit card. These effects are strongest among already precarious households.

Fake society with fake finance. This is terrible.

Looking specifically at online sports gambling, they find that legalization increases the risk that a household goes bankrupt by 25 to 30 percent, and increases debt delinquency. These problems seem to concentrate among young men living in low-income counties—further evidence that those most hurt by sports gambling are the least well-off.

Yeah definitely. I see it all the time with soccer/football.

Matsuzawa and Arnesen extend this, finding that in states where sports betting is legal, the effect is even bigger. They estimate that legal sports betting leads to a roughly 9 percent increase in intimate-partner violence.

...

Legalization isn’t yielding many benefits, either. Tax revenue—one of the major justifications for legalization—has been anemic, with all 38 legal states combined making only about $500 million from it a quarter, less than alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana

Of course, these gambling operations are great at avoiding taxes, setting up their operation to be off shore on official paperwork, in office buildings that don't exist.

the betting industry is ruining lives...

I also saw this. I wonder how much the legal gambling also just opened up pandoras box. I think that a lot of people, especially whales, end up on offshore sites anyways because of better odds and less overall rake. And of course there are also underground sportsbooks still for the biggest players, like Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter who got caught gambling millions of stolen money this spring.

And also, even in CA there are "fantasy games" (tickpick, underdog, even jake paul is affiliated with one of them) and there are "social gambling" sites that use the "sweepstakes" loophole, such as fliff sportsbook and chumba casino. These ones, you pay money for a "fun currency" and you also get "sweeps cash" that is basically a premium currency on their site that can be gambled for real cash. But even the off shore sites are pretty heavily advertised on social media, such as stake and bovada.

Regardless of the actual mechanisms of gambling that are available in your state, the prevalence of the advertising is nauseating. Draftkings/mgm/fanduel ads are all over sports stadiums. Beyond that though, some channels, especially ESPN, show tons of actual odds during their broadcast alongside an ad for their own platform, espnbet. The massive influx of gambling money is tainting sports overall.

Im glad my favorite sports franchise has yet to take any gambling ads, but still when they have a game on ESPN i have to put up with the odds bullshit, in addition to everything else that is total garbage about that channel.

Also, players themselves are being harassed on the field and online by people blaming them for a bet that didnt hit. Some players even received cash app requests to pay back a bet that they ruined.

I dont think it will be banned in mosr states, but congress should have the power to at least curb the advertising specifically, because that should fall under interstate commerce.

I live in CA, a state that still hosts a lottery, another form of expooitative gambling that should be banned or severely restricted. No need to have slot machines on paper at every gas station and convenience store.

I think the question to ask about this is why it's such a unique problem to america. Much like guns.

Here in the UK 15% of men do online gambling and 4% of women. Ok so the top line of data says that 40% of people do gambling but this is only because of scratchcards at petrol stations. When you remove these it drops to 15 and 4.

Why is this situation so significantly worse in america? What is unique about american society and culture that causes 33% of americans to be betting on sports, let alone other stuff?

making gambling illegal is harm reduction.

Sports people are more concerning to me than gamers.

I'm glad I dont know a single thing about sports so I can't be tricked into blowing all my cash on the Buccs

This would've been alright if you still had to like go to an official to place bets. The problem is there's a fucking casino in your pocket now and they've been given free reign to advertise to everyone on everything

https://archive.ph/OyaEf

Also,

Sports should be illegal. Why? For sustainability. Athletes eat like 4x as much as a normal person. That's a lot of fucking food. And what for? So they can run or throw a ball? Who the fuck cares the planet is dying

Gambling is only cool when it's largely illegal

Feel like making illegal doesn't necessarily solve the problem either. Best thing to do would be banning advertising and heavily regulating apps - no notifications etc.

legalizing it is fine IMO, it's probably better than black market gambling. but the ads being everywhere is terrible. advertising cigarettes on tv is illegal, should be the same for gambling

Death to America

I don't gamble and am actively repulsed by how it's being pushed as hip and cool. That said, I'm surprised by the hardline abolition stances in here. Drugs (including alcohol) are surely far more corrosive to people's wellbeing, but no one on here is arguing for prohibition, right?

Some people can't control themselves/live in cultures where it's hard to do this in moderation.

I don't want a state to tell me what I can and can't do with my personal life as long as I'm not doing harm to anyone else. I have the same opinion on most drugs, alcohol, sex work, etc.