Editorial Counterpoint: Take time to weigh risks of sports betting

Minnesota is on the precipice of the largest gambling expansion in 40 years while holding only four hearings in the state House and zero in the state Senate. And now the Star Tribune Editorial Board has weighed in on the supposed benefits of making online gambling "legal [and] regulated" ("Sports betting's time may have come," April 3).

I and many other Minnesotans believe we'd be better off without online sports gambling. It was troubling to see the Star Tribune jump on the gambling bandwagon without a full and open discussion of the facts.

Let's start with the most obvious reason why the state shouldn't legalize online sports gambling: Its predatory advertising will create an even larger number of poor Minnesotans, while government and mega-sports gambling companies profit from the "get rich quick" and "join the fun" advertisements that flood television and social media.

This attempt to expand gambling here isn't happening by chance. It's happening because companies like FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars and MGM are spending millions to make it happen. You can be sure it's a good bet for these companies — because just as with Vegas casinos, the house always wins. These companies are poised to win big if more states legalize online gambling.

Sadly, many Americans fall victim. According to a study by the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions, "the poorer the neighborhood, the higher the risk for problem gambling. In areas with the highest 'neighborhood disadvantage' determined by census factors ... more than 11% were problem gamblers, compared to just 5% in neighborhoods ranking in the top fifth of economic advantage."

Research also proves that proximity to gambling is key to determining how many will become addicted. Fifty years ago, gambling required a plane trip to Las Vegas — it wasn't readily available to the average American. (There's a reason why Nevada consistently ranks high in suicides and bankruptcies. I guess that's the price they've chosen to pay.)

With the legalization of tribal gaming along with a state lottery, racetracks, electronic pulltabs in bars, charitable gambling and many other forms, gambling is now readily available in every corner of Minnesota. Legalizing electronic sports gambling would transform every mobile phone into a slot machine and sports bookie's dream: You could sit on your sofa and place wagers 24/7 with virtually no limits and no oversight.

We know a lot more about brain chemistry today than we did 40 years ago when modern casino-style gambling arrived in Minnesota. We know that advertising draws in a lot of potential gamblers with their advertising — or "hooks" as they're known in the industry. Online sports betting is advertised as "entertainment" and we're told again and again that "everyone is doing it — the state might as well make some money off of it."

That argument supposes that there's no social cost to having more gamblers place easy bets 24/7 from their home or dorm room. But there is a price — and it's a significant price for the 2.5 million Americans that already have a severe addiction to gambling.

These individuals have no outward signs of addiction — yet they are slowly gambling away their futures, their family's future and oftentimes their very lives as they quietly bet on a better outcome that never occurs. According to the Wall Street Journal, "problem gamblers carry an average of $55,000 in debt and more than 20% end up filing for bankruptcy." Or worse.

That's an enormous cost not only for those gamblers but also for communities where businesses suffer from crimes committed by those addicted, law enforcement must prosecute crimes related to gambling problems and families suffer in silence as a silent addiction threatens to cost them their home, their marriage or even their loved one.

This largest expansion of gambling in 40 years deserves serious and transparent debate. We deserve better than the hasty decision being forced upon us by a multibillion-dollar industry eager to rake in even greater profits as some Minnesotans gamble away their futures.

Annette Meeks is a board member, Citizens Against Gambling Expansion.