There’s no better way to appear decent than to start your column with the phrase, “I’m not polite.” But to be honest, I have very liberal ideas about how people should dispose of their money and behave.
I don’t care what you do as long as it doesn’t hurt others or violate their rights. Live your life as long as you don’t expect me to subsidize or praise your vices or pay you to clean up your mess. Ultimately, you have to explain it to God, not me.
But sometimes issues related to personal conduct loom large that I at least want to consider. This is the case with the recent explosion of sports betting in the country. This industry is expanding rapidly, and if state legislators don’t understand it yet, it’s coming.
As states rush to legalize apps and venues so that, say, there can be a “parlay” at every moment of a football game, the siren call of gambling tax revenue is too powerful to ignore.
We’ve heard this song before. According to those trying to make a buck off of legalization, the promise is that legalizing something that isn’t really a “big deal” will make them more money. It wasn’t that long ago that marijuana was legalized in Colorado. Once the tax revenue was revealed, other states jumped in.
Unfortunately, they didn’t wait to see if legalizing marijuana would worsen society’s ills (mental illness, homelessness, addiction, etc.), they just saw the dollar signs. I’m not making a moral judgment, but do you think civil society would be better off legalizing marijuana?
Just as the stench of cheap marijuana lingers on every street corner in Washington, D.C. and the Maryland suburbs, gambling is now happening everywhere.
In the past, betting on sports legally required hard work, such as traveling to Atlantic City or Nevada. Now it’s on your phone and on your face. You won’t be inundated with sportsbook ads as you scroll through social media. The billboard is covered with them. And you can’t watch a game without seeing Hollywood celebrities promoting gambling during every commercial break.
Currently, each league has an official sportsbook partner. Somewhere outside Cooperstown, Pete Rose is researching Hall of Fame prospects at FanDuel, the official sportsbook of Major League Baseball.
Again, has this made your life any better?
In Ohio, calls to gambling helplines tripled immediately after legalizing sports betting. Michigan, which already had casinos, doubled its number. These states are not unique.
Michigan has since legalized full casino gambling apps for mobile phones. You don’t have to drive anywhere to play slots or blackjack. Download and play immediately. How long will it take to get there? Could it get any better?
Maybe you don’t care, or maybe you don’t need to. But it’s worth thinking about. If you don’t care because you don’t bet, you might want to consider how this affects other things that affect your life.
The College Football Playoff is in the midst of a major controversy as undefeated Florida State jumped ahead of 12-1 Alabama and was eliminated from the playoffs. The College Football Playoff Committee made the highly unusual decision that Florida State is not as good a team as it was earlier this year due to several injuries.
If you qualify for the playoffs undefeated (your record includes wins over two ranked teams), it would be pretty unfair for a committee of stakeholders to strip you of that right. Seems fair. Keep other things in mind than common sense and what is right.
Which scenario do you think sportsbooks would prefer? A team hobbled by injuries that loses badly, or a team that gets brought in by another team that the oddsmakers think they can keep by a close margin?
I’m not saying gambling companies had anything to do with this decision, but the billions of dollars these companies are trying to make is certainly worth considering.
It’s arguable that Florida State just got fooled. But the idea that cheap gambling isn’t improving sports or people’s lives is really moot.
Most people can cope with gambling, even if many cannot. We should not govern based on worst-case scenarios. But shouldn’t we at least think about it when governing? It’s safer.
Derek Hunter is the host of the Derek Hunter Podcast and a former staffer to the late Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.).
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