Sports betting: A risky bet for Minnesota

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Adults ought to be able to bet on sports or whatever they want: March Madness office pools. Betting on the next Minnesota Lynx game with a neighbor. Bets on the Vikings at a sports bar.

The sports betting legislation under consideration at the Minnesota Legislature wouldn’t make those bets legal. They already are. The legislation simply allows predatory corporations to step in and use exploitive marketing tactics to profit from these bets. In Minnesota, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars and others are lobbying hard because it’s so profitable. They lure people into betting money they don’t have, turning some occasional bettors into problem gamblers. People drain their retirement savings, spend their federal student loan money, or take out a second or third mortgage. The highly profitable sportsbooks will make boatloads of cash and leave Minnesotans with an enormous addiction and mental health crisis.

For most people betting does not lead to addiction. But for a significant portion of bettors, it does. Gambling is an addiction as powerful as opioids and other substances. It has the highest rate of suicide of any addiction: One in five gambling addicts has attempted suicide, according to the head of Minnesota’s only residential treatment program for gambling addiction. Since sports betting was legalized in New Jersey five years ago, the number of calls to that state’s crisis gambling hotline have tripled, and New Jersey already had lots of gambling problems. Other states have also seen their problem gambling multiply. That creates a true public health crisis.

Professional sports leagues, which fought against gambling for decades because it has so much potential to corrupt the outcomes, reversed course when they learned they could make billions in additional profits from sports betting.

As chair of the Senate Finance Committee, I don’t see legalized sports betting as a big revenue source for the state. I see the reality we face: huge additional cost to taxpayers to address mental health and addiction problems, especially in young people. If we allow these predatory corporations in, we need rigorous safeguards to protect Minnesota from the consequences. We need major changes in the proposals before they are ready for serious consideration.

The current sports betting legislation would be the largest expansion of gambling in Minnesota history. Instead of going to a casino or other gambling destination, mobile sports betting enables betting 24/7 on your phone, with endless pop-up ads to encourage more betting. This turns occasional sports bettors into problem gamblers, while hiding their gambling from spouses or family members who might be able to intervene before the bettor ends up driving the entire family into unrecoverable debt.

The sportsbook lobby argues that all our neighboring states have legalized it. However, there is no mobile betting allowed in Wisconsin, North and South Dakota. They allow it only at tribal casinos, avoiding the dangers of 24/7 mobile betting. Minnesota would have far fewer gambling addiction problems if we followed their lead.

The sportsbook lobby says it will generate lots of additional money for the state budget. That is simply not true. The current legislation uses the revenue it raises to subsidize other betting operations, to mitigate a portion of the increased problems with gambling addiction, and for grants to promote integrity and participation in amateur sports. There is zero money in the legislation to fund education or other government services or reduce taxes.

The sportsbook lobby claims it will reduce youth sports betting by driving out the illegal offshore gambling operations where some young people bet. That is also false. Incessant advertising and marketing will lure more young people into betting, not fewer.

Sports betting affects the integrity of sports and the safety of athletes. The current legislation acknowledges that betting is corrupting sports, even creating a grant program “to promote the integrity of amateur sports.” Without sports betting, we wouldn’t need a fund to deal with the integrity of amateur sports. In states with legalized sports betting, college athletes have received death threats when their performance affected the outcome of bets.

If Minnesota is going to jump into sports betting, the law must include a heavy focus on preventing problem gambling and protecting minors, including young athletes. I am working with a bipartisan group of colleagues to ensure that any sports betting legislation addresses the devastating economic, social and mental health impacts, including suicide risks, on many bettors and their families, as well as the impact on the integrity of sports and the risks to athletes.