[BostonCard]

Probably needs to be said: Legalized sports betting has caused enough harm to society that, in my opinion, it's time to question the ethics of supporting pro teams whose parent leagues (e.g. NFL and NBA) are in bed with the big gaming sites.

https://www.nba.com/news/draftkings-fand...g-partners

https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-announces-t...g-partners

 People are going to gamble.  Whether “sponsored “ or not.  This is coming from someone that doesn’t….

Yes, people are going to gamble regardless, but that's not a reason not to have a law.
The biggest effect is that with gambling being legal, you can't really stop companies from marketing gambling.  The first amendment makes it hard to restrict advertsing.
Two, it being legal makes it much easier to seriously gamble (beyond your NCAA tournament pool).  It used to be that in order to gamble you either had to go to Las Vegas to do it legally or know a bookie who would take an illegal bet.  Although there are all sorts of problems with the latter, many people never took the first step.  Now, it is as easy as downloading an app to your phone and putting in your credit card number.
Three, it being that easy also means that companies can engage in all sorts of "dark patterns" to get people to gamble more.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/market...s-betting/

The fundamental problem is that you now have corporate entities whose business model benefits from problem gamblers.  So, there is no incentive to prevent problem gambling, and every incentive to encourage it.

BC

[BostonCard]

Probably needs to be said: Legalized sports betting has caused enough harm to society that, in my opinion, it's time to question the ethics of supporting pro teams whose parent leagues (e.g. NFL and NBA) are in bed with the big gaming sites.

https://www.nba.com/news/draftkings-fand...g-partners

https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-announces-t...g-partners

 People are going to gamble.  Whether “sponsored “ or not.  This is coming from someone that doesn’t….

Yes, people are going to gamble regardless, but that's not a reason not to have a law.
The biggest effect is that with gambling being legal, you can't really stop companies from marketing gambling.  The first amendment makes it hard to restrict advertsing.
Two, it being legal makes it much easier to seriously gamble (beyond your NCAA tournament pool).  It used to be that in order to gamble you either had to go to Las Vegas to do it legally or know a bookie who would take an illegal bet.  Although there are all sorts of problems with the latter, many people never took the first step.  Now, it is as easy as downloading an app to your phone and putting in your credit card number.
Three, it being that easy also means that companies can engage in all sorts of "dark patterns" to get people to gamble more.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/market...s-betting/

The fundamental problem is that you now have corporate entities whose business model benefits from problem gamblers.  So, there is no incentive to prevent problem gambling, and every incentive to encourage it.

BC