In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. A fractured court, led by a conservative majority, held that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, signed into law in the final months of the George H.W. Bush presidency, was unconstitutional.
The practical effect of the Murphy decision was that sports gambling, the legal practice of which had been mostly confined to Nevada casinos, became ubiquitous in short order. A few weeks after the court’s decision, Delaware became the first state other than Nevada to legalize sports gambling. Today, sports gambling is legal in 39 states plus Washington, D.C. And it’s noticeable: It has become almost impossible to watch a football game or scroll through social media without being assaulted by the seductive advertisements of the sports gambling industry.
Much like our failed social experiment in marijuana, which commenced in earnest with Colorado’s decision to legalize recreational use in 2012, America’s experiment in legalized sports gambling has not gone well. On the contrary, it has been nothing short of disastrous for our nation’s moral fabric and the legions of financially vulnerable young men who fall prey to the industry’s temptations.
Many cheered the Murphy decision as a triumph of constitutional federalism and free-market principle. But ordered liberty rightly understood brooks no compromise with vice. Legalized sports gambling has not strengthened our civic order; it has corroded it. The consequences are both moral and financial, especially among young men. The online, mobile betting revolution means that the casino is no longer a distant building — it’s right in our pocket.
According to research tracking 7 million U.S. adults, states with legalized online sports betting have seen a 25%-30% increase in bankruptcy filings and an 8% rise in debt sent to collections compared to states without such easy access. Meanwhile, a survey of sports bettors found that one in four say they’ve missed a bill payment because of gambling, and 30% say they have debts they directly attribute to sports wagering. Another survey found more than half of sports bettors carry a credit card balance month to month.
On and on it goes.
The human toll is staggering. Countless young men — already increasingly despondent and disconnected from faith, family and community — are now glued to their phones, obsessing over point spreads. The events meant to bring us together, like the Super Bowl or March Madness, have been bastardized into vehicles for ruinous addiction. Betting lines crawl across sports broadcasts; ESPN anchors often sound more like casino hosts than sports analysts.
A beloved national pastime that once fostered civic unity and wholesome escape has thus become yet another arena for atomistic consumption and decay. Just as bad, the innocence and integrity of sport itself has been hopelessly corrupted, as recent high-profile legal cases involving both the NBA and MLB make abundantly clear.
The defenders of this new dispensation typically wave the flag of “personal choice.” But not all choices are created equal. Just as we regulate narcotics and pornography, we have every right — indeed, every duty — to restrict forms of so-called entertainment that prey upon the vulnerable. A culture that shrugs and is always content to simply “let people do what they want” is not one capable of sustaining republican self-governance from one generation to the next.
There is also the question of our broader economic health. Yet another study found that households in states with legal sports gambling invest nearly 14% less than comparable households in other states. That means money that could have gone into retirement savings, small business investment, home financing or other worthwhile pursuits is instead wagered and lost. For far too many in the already-economically disadvantaged millennial and Gen Z demographics, the American dream is being mortgaged for the thrill of a bet.
It ought to be axiomatic that markets exist to serve man — not the other way around. State legislatures should revisit their reckless embrace of legalized sports gambling from sea to shining sea. Religious and civic leaders must speak candidly about the costs of this new social contagion. Parents must warn their children that the digital casino is not a harmless app but a spiritual and financial trap.
Earl Warren, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court, famously once said about his newspaper reading habits: “I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man’s failures.” He’s right — and it’s perhaps the only time I agree with Warren. In a healthy culture, sport elevates. It rewards human excellence and bolsters social solidarity. But in an ailing culture, sport becomes yet another instrument of vice.
We must have the courage to say enough is enough. The societal stakes are far higher than any given point spread. It’s time to call off the bets.
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