[81alum]

Fortunately, California voted down two sports-betting initiatives in November and all sports betting--online or in person--remains illegal here, horse racing excepted.  You'll have to go to college in one of the 30 states that have legalized it to have this problem.   (Of course, illegal betting can be found everywhere.)  The vote was overwhelming--83% NO--even though the gambling industry spent more on their campaign than any other proposition in California history.  



https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/34...ts-betting



By the way, most of the Big 10 states have legal sports betting, so the USC and UCLA teams will be able to get off the planes on their away trips and plunk down some bets.

Found it ironic that while CA voters downed both sports gambling initiatives, KGO dumped generations of news and news talk radio in favor of The Spread, 24/7 content devoted solely to sports betting. Most Bay Area sports talk shows spend at least one segment devoted to gambling, as well. Makes one wonder why, if sports betting is illegal in the state.

Because Californians are betting at least $15.7 billion a year illegally, mostly online at sites in Latin America and the Caribbean that claim US law does not apply.  Enforcement does not seem to be a very high priority.

“California state law is probably the broadest in the country” when it comes to restricting gambling, said I. Nelson Rose, a gambling law scholar and emeritus professor at Whittier College. “It makes it a crime — a misdemeanor — to accept, record or even make a bet on a sports event. Obviously, nobody ever gets arrested for making bets on sports events. But it’s clearly against the law.”

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/202...california



Since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling opened the floodgates to sports gambling, and since the spread of ubiquitous online gambling sites, the corrupting effects of gambling on sports cannot be far off.  How many Black Sox scandals will we have--that one, buried in the last century, may seem like a blip compared with what is possible now.  If present trends continue, will we always have to wonder whether one side or the other got rich by shaving points or throwing the game?  How long will it be before it is not Nike but Caesar's that is sponsoring teams?

[81alum]

Fortunately, California voted down two sports-betting initiatives in November and all sports betting--online or in person--remains illegal here, horse racing excepted.  You'll have to go to college in one of the 30 states that have legalized it to have this problem.   (Of course, illegal betting can be found everywhere.)  The vote was overwhelming--83% NO--even though the gambling industry spent more on their campaign than any other proposition in California history.  



https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/34...ts-betting



By the way, most of the Big 10 states have legal sports betting, so the USC and UCLA teams will be able to get off the planes on their away trips and plunk down some bets.

Found it ironic that while CA voters downed both sports gambling initiatives, KGO dumped generations of news and news talk radio in favor of The Spread, 24/7 content devoted solely to sports betting. Most Bay Area sports talk shows spend at least one segment devoted to gambling, as well. Makes one wonder why, if sports betting is illegal in the state.

Because Californians are betting at least $15.7 billion a year illegally, mostly online at sites in Latin America and the Caribbean that claim US law does not apply.  Enforcement does not seem to be a very high priority.

“California state law is probably the broadest in the country” when it comes to restricting gambling, said I. Nelson Rose, a gambling law scholar and emeritus professor at Whittier College. “It makes it a crime — a misdemeanor — to accept, record or even make a bet on a sports event. Obviously, nobody ever gets arrested for making bets on sports events. But it’s clearly against the law.”

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/202...california



Since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling opened the floodgates to sports gambling, and since the spread of ubiquitous online gambling sites, the corrupting effects of gambling on sports cannot be far off.  How many Black Sox scandals will we have--that one, buried in the last century, may seem like a blip compared with what is possible now.  If present trends continue, will we always have to wonder whether one side or the other got rich by shaving points or throwing the game?  How long will it be before it is not Nike but Caesar's that is sponsoring teams?