Should Sports Betting Be Legalized?

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Below is a selection of letters from readers who responded to our question about legalization.

To the Editor:

In Congress, I represent the heart of Las Vegas, home of renowned gaming experts, regulators, casinos and sportsbooks. Accordingly, over the years Nevada has set the gold standard when it comes to sports betting, gambling regulation and consumer protections.

Those of us who have been involved in the industry know that a regulated market is better than an illegal one. Unfortunately, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act has spawned an estimated $150 billion annual illegal sports betting market that lacks consumer protections, is ripe for manipulation, fuels other illicit activities and jeopardizes the integrity of sports leagues.

Allowing states and tribal sovereign governments to legalize sports betting could boost local economies, increase state revenues, and better protect both consumers and the industry, with Nevada showing the way.

DINA TITUS, LAS VEGAS

To the Editor:

It is infuriating to me that most Americans can legally bet on the future price of soybeans or a company’s future profits, but not a sporting event.

CHRIS BENNETT, MINNEAPOLIS

The writer formerly worked in a sportsbook in Las Vegas.

To the Editor:

Generally I believe that governments should not be in the business of protecting adult citizens from themselves. But there are exceptions, and gambling is one of them. Gambling destroys people, devastates families and has no redeeming qualities.

So, no, don’t legalize sports betting. In fact, it’s high time we as a society banned all gambling, including casinos and state lotteries. It’s time to end states’ addiction to gambling revenue, which is nothing more than a tax on the poor.

And it’s high time we cracked down on online gambling. We can levy large fines against violators and use the money to fund enforcement, offset state revenue losses, and train laid-off casino employees for desperately needed and much more productive infrastructure work.

LAWRENCE REICHARD, BELFAST, ME.

To the Editor:

It’s hard to believe that this argument is still going on. When it’s clear that people will do a certain thing — and this runs the gamut from betting through drugs and liquor — we need to stop criminalizing the behavior and find ways to make it fairer, safer and cleaner.

One would think that Prohibition was the ultimate lesson in this regard. Wasn’t anyone paying attention?

Recognizing that a behavior is inevitable at some level is not the same as condoning it. Making people who do these things into criminals doesn’t benefit anyone. Educate young people about the dangers, write some rules, set some limits and collect the taxes that will benefit communities and fund treatment centers when a “user” requires that.

ANNE KELLEY, SAN FRANCISCO

To the Editor:

In all honesty, who cares, and what difference would it make anyway? Anti-gambling laws are completely unenforced, and no one is scared to place “illegal” bets. I am not a gambler, but I remember as a child hearing my grandfather whispering in the phone as he made bets on horse racing.

It’s a far cry from that today, when people talk openly about gambling. There are more important things to worry about.

STEVE SANDMAN, SOUTH BEND, IND.

To the Editor:

As with many other policy decisions in the United States, we are behind our European and Canadian counterparts when it comes to sports betting. In addition, many states have some sort of legalized gambling, from state lotteries to horse racing.

The vast majority of Americans who want to bet on sports are already doing so through offshore websites. People are going to bet on sports one way or another; why not collect some tax on it? Legalized betting will also increase ratings for sports events, as people who have bet on a game have a vested interest in watching.

Sports betting has been legal in many other countries for a long time and has not compromised the integrity of the sport. It’s time the United States plays catch-up with the rest of the world.

JUSTIN PHASS
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.

To the Editor:

Sports betting should be legalized. Online sports betting has become an addiction much like gambling for teenagers and college students. This was recognized in 2013 when the American Psychiatric Association reclassified pathological gambling from an impulse control disorder to an addiction in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.

Sports fantasy sites openly target young men and are not held to the same legal standards as many casinos and other gambling institutions. Many casinos display brochures of Gamblers Anonymous and other treatment resources.

By legalizing online sports betting we will be able to ensure that those walking the line of addiction receive proper resources in order to enjoy their hobby in safe, regulated ways that do not overtake their lives.

SARA SHAH, NEW YORK

To the Editor:

Sports gambling should be legalized. First, it could be an important source of government revenue like the many state lotteries that have flourished under this form of voluntary taxation. Second, it’s in our DNA; gambling has been a part of the human condition for some time. And third, because, as Damon Runyon once soberly put it, “all life is 6-5 against.” It’s a bet we make every day we wake up.

DOUG GARR, NEW YORK