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Anyone who watches sports has recognized the influx of flashy, funny and big-budget advertising promoting online sports gambling sites and apps. It could be argued that the “sport” of betting on sports seems to be just as popular as watching the game itself.
The sports gambling bill again failed to pass at the Minnesota Capitol this year. But while gambling on sports remains illegal in Minnesota, the reality is people are going to continue to place bets on sports and potentially head down an all-too-common path of problem gambling and addiction, which can lead to bankruptcy, dissolved relationships, domestic violence, homelessness and money crimes. Problem gamblers have the highest suicide rate of any addiction disorders.
As a gambling-neutral organization, we aren’t against gambling. We fully understand that many people can play responsibly. But we can’t ignore there are 250,000 Minnesota adults — and 6,000 high schoolers — who have reported problematic gambling, according to a 2020 study from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, and who don’t have a strong safety net for support or recovery.
Given these facts, we can’t underscore enough that we need to make Minnesota a safer, more supportive community that treats problem gambling as a treatable and preventable public health issue.
Unfortunately, Minnesota — and the 38 states that have legalized sports gambling — fail to see problem gambling as a public health issue. Many of these states rushed their sports gambling legislation and failed to include the necessary consumer protections and prevention resources. Consequently, every state that has legalized sports betting has seen significant spikes in calls to problem gambling help lines.
These are major red flags for Minnesota to think about and prepare for if and when the sports gambling debate continues at the Capitol.