THE NCAA DIVISION 1 MEN'S BASKETBALL Tournament, which just got underway, is the pinnacle of college sports, an annual all-American rah-rah celebration of athletic competition. The Big Dance. The Final Four. March Madness! It is also, increasingly, a chance for a lot of people to bet a lot of money.
From the casual fun of picking brackets for an office pool, the tournament has evolved to become "America's most wagered-on competition," according to the American Gaming Association, an industry group, surpassing even the Super Bowl in numbers of bets placed. This year the AGA expects the college hoops contest will attract $15.5 billion in bets from 68 million Americans, a huge increase from last year when the group estimated 45 million people would bet $3.1 billion. The driving force behind that stunning five-fold jump, the AGA says: the growing popularity of legal online sports betting.
Since a Supreme Court ruling opened the door in 2018, legal sports betting has exploded in the U.S., fueled by easy access through online apps and expensive, star-studded ad campaigns for online sportsbooks. Some 36 states have passed laws to allow gambling on sports, another eight are considering it and more than half of American adults-146 million people now live in a live, legal sports-betting market. The result: record-breaking revenue for the betting companies, a tax windfall for states and a sharp and troubling rise in serious gambling problems and addiction. It's a trend that experts believe may rapidly worsen, given what is known about the trajectory of compulsive gambling and the experience of countries that have had legal sports betting in place far longer than the U.S.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
