I have – an unfortunately pervasive – habit. If I am in class, and someone in my line of sight begins to browse the internet, my eyes are drawn to their screen. Over the years, I have watched an increasing number of classmates gamble on sports during class. It is rare to see activity become ubiquitous as quickly as sports gambling. Not long ago, links to sports gambling could severely tarnish an athlete’s career. Today, countless athletes and sports teams have long-term endorsement deals with wagering companies. Sports gambling arrived in Georgia long ago. Now, state legislators can ensure that this activity benefits the students of Georgia.
Sports gambling has proven to be especially popular among college students. 58% of 18 to 22-year-olds surveyed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association reported engaging in sports betting activity. According to Ted Hartwell, the Executive Director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, around two-thirds of on-campus college students bet on sports. University students are frequently exposed to gambling advertising, principally through television, social media and on-campus promotional campaigns.
To the surprise of many, sports gambling is illegal in the state of Georgia. It is one of 12 states that has yet to pass legislation authorizing the activity following the 2012 Supreme Court case that struck down its prohibition. Many Georgia residents still routinely wager on sports through a legal loophole; daily fantasy sports (DFS). While DFS and sports gambling are similar, the former’s legality is justified by its status as a game of skill, since a wagerer must bet on multiple players’ individual performances rather than the outcome of a particular game. Through this legal gray area, PrizePicks, the country’s largest DFS app, can be headquartered in Georgia.
The widespread legalization of sports gambling throughout the country was fueled by its economic potential. States and policymakers believed that introducing this new industry which would be met with high initial demand, would create enormous tax revenue and allow for higher numbers of job creation. This has proved to be true. As of 2021, states that legalized sports gambling have created millions of dollars in new tax revenue. This new income can be used to revitalize struggling social programs, aid in funding public schools and in treatment for problem gamblers.
In the state of Georgia, a form of gambling already supports our most popular social programs. The HOPE Scholarship, which covers tuition costs for eligible college students, is funded by the Georgia Lottery. Net proceeds from lottery ticket sales are transferred into the state treasury’s Lottery for Education account, which funds the HOPE Scholarship and the Georgia Pre-Kindergarten Program. Potential added tax revenue from sports gambling could enhance the fund used to finance both programs, potentially allowing for their expansion.
Unfortunately, gambling is not an unproblematic activity. According to the MayoClinic, gambling can stimulate one’s brain similarly to drugs and alcohol, potentially leading to addiction. Any legislation concerning the legalization of the sports gambling industry should include provisions for funding gambling disorder programs and mandate the inclusion of in-app mechanisms that identify problematic betting patterns.
While it may seem far-fetched, the technology to identify and protect potential problem gamblers from their own addictions already exists. In order to form lucrative partnerships with professional sports leagues, betting and DFS companies created mechanisms dedicated to identifying incidents of point-shaving or match-fixing. Sports gambling companies hire experts in statistics and data analysis to find “abnormal betting patterns”, which suggest bettors were acting with information unbeknownst to the general public. These mechanisms served as the impetus for investigations that resulted in the indictment of basketball player Jontay Porter and the charges brought against Brazilian soccer player Lucas Paquetá. Evidently, these tools are efficient in flagging abnormal betting patterns. It would be rather simple to adapt this technology to identify customers who place bets in problematic volumes across multiple platforms.
Georgia’s refusal to pass legislation authorizing sports gambling has put it in an advantageous position. State legislator’s yearly efforts to pass bills legalizing the activity suggest that gambling will eventually be legalized. Allowing other states to experiment with legalization for a substantial period of time has given state legislators the resources to study the best way to implement sports gambling in Georgia, maximizing tax revenue, increasing public funding for schooling and protecting vulnerable populations.
