In the coming days, the nation's best men's and women's college basketball teams will clash in the NCAA Tournament finals. For fans, these are some of the biggest events of the year and a chance to see the best young athletes in the most dangerous games. These are also some of the most lucrative events for sports betting apps. The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will legally wager nearly $3 billion during this year's March Madness.
Six years ago, sports betting was illegal under federal law. Today it is everywhere. A recent study found that an NBA and NHL viewer is exposed to gambling ads three times per minute. As my colleague Ashley Wu's chart shows, commercial sports betting revenue has increased 12x since his 2019.
what happened? In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban, concluding that it violated states' rights. Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia allow gambling on games.
The old laws were strange in many ways. Gambling was allowed in other countries. The United States has allowed it in some sports, such as horse racing. And millions of Americans were already betting on sports, legal or not.
But the Supreme Court didn't just allow Americans to place legal bets. A separate series of rulings also gave major industry powers to sell sports betting apps and persuade more people to gamble.
enable large companies
Americans typically learn about free speech in the context of social and political issues. But since the 1970s, the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment to protect advertising. Currently, if something is legal, it can be advertised and the government cannot stop companies from selling it. (There are some restrictions. For example, advertising must not be deceptive or misleading.)
Proponents of this legal paradigm argue that advertising enables consumers to make informed decisions. UCLA legal scholar Eugene Volokh said, “Courts have generally held that free speech allows individuals to decide for themselves what they believe without arguing that the government sends a bad message.'' “I am of the view that it should be done,” he said. In other words, if people want to spend their savings on legal sports betting, they should be able to find a way to do so.
What about cigarettes? Indeed, tobacco companies are not allowed to advertise even if their products are legal. However, this is a special situation. Government officials agreed in 1998 not to sell cigarettes as part of an unusual legal settlement with the state. In other cases, the Supreme Court upheld tobacco companies' advertising rights on First Amendment grounds.
This ruling means that the only reliable way to stop mass sales of a product is to ban it. Jennifer Pomerantz, a public health attorney at New York University, said lawmakers “have a bizarre incentive to circumvent the First Amendment by not legalizing things or banning products.” said. She pointed out that the federal government prohibits marijuana even though many states have legalized it.
result
The American Gaming Association says sports betting ads drive people from illegal markets to legal markets, increase government tax revenue and help consumers avoid scams.
But advertising also persuades more people to gamble. Recovering addicts complain that the flood of advertisements provides a constant temptation when all they want to do is watch the games. Calls to gambling helplines have increased in states that have legalized sports betting.
Legal gambling has also affected the sport itself. Consider prop betting. Prop betting attempts to predict how an athlete will perform in a particular match. Fans threatened players who did not meet their expectations. And athletes can also bet on themselves and adjust their plays to make cash, as NBA player Jontay Porter has been accused of. Such self-handling can damage the integrity of the competition. For these reasons, Louisiana passed a ban on prop gambling on college athletes this week.
Gambling can also cause other types of headaches for athletes. Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani is currently embroiled in a scandal after his former interpreter allegedly stole millions of dollars in betting money. (The wrongdoing includes illegal gambling market. A player from The Athletic explained how it works. )
As sports betting grows, these issues will become more common. However, the gambling industry has a vested interest in getting as many people as possible to participate, regardless of the outcome. And as a result of the Supreme Court's ruling, lawmakers are limited in what they can do.
For many: Otani continues to perform despite the gambling scandal. He hit his first home run as a Dodger with a 430-foot shot. Check out some fun images from his fans.
the latest news
israel-hamas war
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Israel agreed to open a crossing to ramp up humanitarian aid to northern Gaza after President Biden called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and threatened to make U.S. aid conditional on protecting civilians.
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President Donald Trump renewed his call for Israel to quickly end the war, saying, “I don't know if I love the way they're doing it.”
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Prime Minister Netanyahu's political rival Benny Gantz has called for early elections in September. It shows the strain the war is putting on Israel's unity government.
Other international news
Scotland: The Willy Wonka event ended in disaster. From the ashes, an up-and-coming star was born.
36 hours: Fly a kite on the fortress lawn and stroll the mural-lined streets of San Juan, PR
Celestial events: Animals may behave strangely during a solar eclipse.
Life lived: Gaetano Pesce hated right angles. A rebel designer of furniture and art, his most famous work was an armchair shaped like a fertility goddess, representing the conquest of women. Mr. Pesce passed away at the age of 84.
sports
College basketball: The most anticipated Women's Final Four in history begins tonight, with Iowa and Caitlin Clark headlined by undefeated South Carolina.
North Carolina: NC State's women's and men's basketball teams have both reached the Final Four. That's a boon for Laurie.
Title game: Want to go to the Women's NCAA Championship? It costs nearly $1,000, which is a little more expensive than the men's version.
MLB: The Oakland Athletics have reached a deal to play in Sacramento for the next three seasons before a planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.
NBA: Knicks forward Julius Randle will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
art and ideas
Fashion and sports: Days after LSU lost to Iowa in the Elite Eight, the team's star forward Angel Reese was still making headlines — this time in Vogue.
She used the magazine to announce her entry into the WNBA draft, wearing clothes by Valentino, Diesel, Wales Bonner, and Christian Louboutin. This is the latest expression of the increasing overlap between fashion and sport. This summer's Paris Olympics will be the ultimate fusion of these industries, writes Vanessa Friedman.
