Common Assignment

Sports betting in the United States has been a controversial issue. It has a long history but was made illegal in the early 1900s, except in Nevada. New Jersey fought against this law but lost in court. However, in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that states can decide on the legality of sports betting. Since then, the industry has grown rapidly, generating billions in revenue. There are concerns about the integrity of the game and gambling addiction, but sports organizations are monitoring players closely. On the positive side, legalized sports betting brings economic benefits through taxes and sponsorships for leagues. Overall, the debate continues, but the freedom to bet on sports has been granted. Hello everyone, my name is Logan and today I am going to be discussing the issue of sports betting in the United States, which has been in the news recently and has been a source of controversy in the sports world with people who have opinions on both sides of the coin. Sports betting is the act of placing one's own money or wager on the outcome of a sporting event. This bet can be placed on a wide range of events from the outcome of the game to how well a player will perform. Sports betting has been around for as long as sports have existed, with early records showing that even the ancient Egyptians bet on dice games. While sports betting and gambling itself is extremely popular in American culture, the United States government didn't see it this way, with heavy regulations against gambling which essentially made it illegal in the United States in the early 1900s. As was most things that were illegal back then, the business of gambling and sports betting went through the mafia, with people who wanted to place wagers placing them through legal bookmakers, which is someone who makes the odds of the game and accepts people's wagers. It wasn't until 1931 when one state realized that they can use the revenue made from gambling to their benefit. If you haven't figured out what state that is, I'm of course talking about the epicenter of gambling that is Nevada. With the Great Depression hitting in 1929, Nevada looked to bring in some economic relief and they did that through gambling, especially with sports betting, becoming the first state to legalize it. Because Nevada was the only state with legalized gambling, it soon became a major tourist destination. Sports gambling took a major hit when the government passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA, after a set of hearings from the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on patents, copyrights, and trademarks, including testimony from then-NBA Commissioner David Stern, who was in favor of the law. They concluded that sports betting was a national problem and that the harm it creates can spread nationwide. The bill passed the House on October 6, 1992, and then passed the Senate the next day. And when George H.W. Bush signed it into law on October 28, 1992, it made sports gambling illegal everywhere in the United States, with the exception of states that already had laws in place that made sports betting legal. These states include Oregon, Delaware, Montana, and of course, Nevada. One state that was angry about this law was New Jersey. New Jersey wanted to be one of the states that was exempt from PASPA, but they missed the deadline to apply for the exemption. This cost New Jersey millions in lost revenue. In 2011, New Jersey voters voted to allow sports betting in the state. In 2012, the New Jersey Legislature enacted the Sports Wagering Act, which allowed residents to bet on sports, despite what PASPA said. This angered every sports league in the country, so the NBA, NHL, NFL, NLB, and NCAA all immediately sued New Jersey to get rid of the law. New Jersey argued that PASPA violated the 10th Amendment's anti-commandeering doctrine, which basically means the federal government can't make New Jersey repeal their own law. Unfortunately for New Jersey, the courts ruled in favor of the leagues and ruled that New Jersey can't enforce the law. This, however, did not stop New Jersey. They revised the law, and in September of 2014, the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, signed the bill into law again. Unsurprisingly, all five leagues immediately sued again, but this time the case went all the way up to the Supreme Court, and the case was Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. By this time, Phil Murphy was elected governor, but he continued to fight. And on May 14, 2018, the courts ruled 7-2 in favor of Murphy. This ruling was a landmark decision in sports betting because it repealed PASPA and made the legality of sports betting up to the states, rather than the federal government. Since this ruling, the sports betting industry boomed. Today, 37 states and Washington, D.C. legalize sports betting, and the industry generated almost $11 billion in revenue. Today sports betting has become normalized in the sports world, with some sportsbooks, ironically, even doing deals with professional sports leagues like the NFL, the same league that tried to eliminate their business. With the legalization of sports betting comes the ethical consequences. One of the main arguments that every sports league argued was that sports betting could ruin the integrity of the game. Sports betting has been a problem within all leagues, even with it being illegal. So it's no surprise that all sports leagues were initially against it. One of the most infinite examples of this was the case of the 1919 Chicago White Sox. In 1919, the Chicago White Sox were one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. Unfortunately for them, their owner, Charles Comiskey, was a known cheapskate and had a reputation for underpaying his players. Wanting some extra money, White Sox player Chick Gandall met with a gambler named Sport Sullivan and agreed to purposely lose the upcoming World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for $80,000, which is the equivalent of about $1.4 million in today's money. Gandall told some of his other teammates about the bet, and the fix was on. In the best-of-nine series, the White Sox went down four games to one, and some of the players were angry about not getting payment that they were promised, so they then decided to start winning, and they proceeded to win the next two games to narrow the series lead to 4-3. Gamblers then threatened the players and their families with violence, and the White Sox subsequently lost the next game, 10-5, to lose the series. Before the series started, there were rumors swirling around about the fix, and after the series, eight players were indicted on conspiracy to defraud. Despite this, however, all eight players were found not guilty. Wanting to make an example out of the White Sox and send a message to the rest of the league about sports betting, newly made commissioner Kennesaw Landis eventually banned all eight accused players from playing in the MLB for life. This included players who were in on the fix and players who didn't participate but knew about it and didn't tell anyone. This scandal soon became known as the Black Sox scandal, and became a lesson for future professional athletes at the cost of ruining the integrity of the game. Despite this scandal, there have been some examples of athletes betting on games for their own benefit, and even as recently as this year, with one example being Jonte Porter of the NBA's Toronto Raptors, who was a player that didn't get much playing time, but raised suspicions when a large bet of $80,000 was placed on his performance. After an investigation by the NBA, on April 17th, 2024, Jonte Porter was banned from the NBA for life. With online sports betting making placing wagers easier and easier, sports organizations are keeping a closer eye on players to protect the integrity of their league and their fans. Another issue that people have with sports betting is the issue of gambling addictions. With the legalization of sports betting, it has become easier for people to place wagers and bet money in the hopes of seeing some financial return. Since the Supreme Court case that changed gambling landscape, New Jersey gambling hotline traffic doubled, with 11.5% of people who asked for help reported being under the age of 25. This is significant because it shows how gambling is starting to affect the younger generations. With the ease of sports betting nowadays, it can be harder to completely control the audience of who bets, and with the age for a person's brain to fully mature at being 25, a gambling addiction can impact how a person's brain develops. With an estimated 1-2% of the U.S. population reporting having a gambling addiction, there are options put in place like gambling hotlines, but most governments see it as an afterthought, and there often isn't enough funding to operate these hotlines. One of the major arguments for sports betting is the economic benefits that sports betting can bring. The convenience of online sports books makes it easier for Americans to place bets, and with the convenience means more incentive to spend money. The more money these sports books make means more taxes that the states collect. Since 2018, states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey have suppressed over $1 billion in sports book taxes. These taxes help with the benefit of the population because they have gone into programs including social services, schooling, and projects throughout the states. The increased revenue can help fund things that the states previously couldn't afford to do. Not only does the increased revenue from gambling benefit governments, but it also benefits the leagues that people bet on. Despite these leagues having a strong stance against sports betting before it was legalized and still keeping a close eye on the players placing wagers on games, they are now reaping the benefits of sports betting. Multiple online sports books nowadays have reached partnerships with each league, meaning each league is gaining sponsorship money from the sports books, with the NFL making $1 billion from partnerships with sports books like Caesars, FanDuel, and DraftKings over the course of five years. These leagues are also benefiting from the exposure they get when people place bets on games. When someone places a bet on a game, they are more inclined to watch the game they are betting on, which means more ratings for the sports leagues and more revenue from the amount of viewers they get. Looking at both sides of the argument, I believe that people should have the freedom to do as they please, including being able to bet on sports. Looking at the argument against sports betting, I don't see the integrity of sports leagues being in any imminent danger. The punishment of being banned for life from playing in a league is so severe that it would be idiotic to even consider fixing a game. Professional athletes are making millions of dollars, and now with NIL deals being in place for college athletes to be able to make money from playing sports, the risk to reward ratio of betting on yourself doesn't make sense. With that being said, this won't stop some people, as with the recent example of Raptors player Jonte Porter, but players like him have such little impact on the game itself that the damage caused is negligent. As for gambling addictions, I believe that each person is capable of making their own decisions, and while gambling addictions are a big problem, especially for younger people, the benefits that come from the revenue gained from gambling outweigh it. I don't think we should just forget about these people, however. I believe that states should put their own resources into getting people with gambling addictions help, including more funding to state hotlines. These hotlines can help people recover from addictions and promote more responsible gambling. The revenue created from sports betting, I believe, can greatly benefit society. With more funding into state programs, more people can have a better quality of life, which is why I think that every state should legalize sports betting, so that every state can reap the benefits.