While about 30 Minnesota Senate and House hearings have focused on sports betting and other forms of gambling over the last few years, none have focused on the negative impacts of sports betting. Until now.
On January 8, the state legislature heard about the socioeconomic impacts of problem gambling and gambling addiction. Several speakers provided expert testimony from a variety of perspectives, including MNAPG executive director Susan Sheridan Tucker.
The hearing included the following speakers and perspectives:
Les Bernal, national director for Stop Predatory Gambling, spoke of concerns with proponents of expanded gambling trying to portray sports gambling companies as regular businesses when, in fact, he sees them as often using predatory practices to attract gamblers and encourage heavy gamblers to keep making bets. “It’s an adversarial relationship,” he said. “That’s true for all forms of commercialized gambling that is being done for profit.”
Matt Litt, a New Jersey-based attorney who specializes in litigation against sports books and gaming companies, spoke of the interactions he’s reviewed between gamblers and VIP hosts. He said that hosts send users trophies and offer all-expenses paid trips to users who spend a certain amount of money, enticing them to keep spending money.
Brett Hollenbeck, associate professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, highlighted the financial consequences of legalized sports gambling by presenting an analysis of credit scores, debt consolidation and collections data, bankruptcies and car loan delinquencies. He demonstrated that across nearly every metric, residents of states where sports betting was legal had worse outcomes than those in states that still prohibit sports gambling.
Similarly, Scott Baker, associate professor of Finance at Kellogg School of Management, and his colleagues found that people who bet on sports are more likely to overdraw their accounts, have higher credit card balances and invest less than those who do not gamble on sports.
Emily Arnesen, professor in the Economics department at the University of Oregon, and Kyutaro Matsuzawa, doctoral student in Economics at the University of Oregon, noted that the legalization of sports betting has increased certain types of intimate partner violence. They cited studies that have long documented that domestic violence increases when a local sports team loses. Arnesen and Matsuzawa estimated that sports betting legalization increased incidents of intimate partner violence by around 9%.
Susan Sheridan Tucker explained MNAPG’s neutral stance on gambling but emphasized its desire to advocate on behalf of those impacted by problem gambling, to ensure that appropriate consumer protections are incorporated into any legalization of gambling, and to secure adequate funding is set aside to advance prevention and treatment efforts.
Craig Johnson, a Minnesota certified gambling treatment provider with Club Recovery, spoke of the harms he has witness from his clients with gambling problems. “The effect of this disease on individuals is as profound as any addiction you can encounter,” he said.
In addition to the experts, several individuals with lived experience spoke of their personal struggles with gambling addiction and the impact it has had on their life and the lives of others.
The complete hearing can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RBsKS2BRTU.