In Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell's opinion, sports gambling is not only a potentially dangerous vice in itself, but also a gateway to other addictive sexual behaviors, especially if gamblers start young. It is said that there is. Sitting next to Charlie Baker, the former governor and current NCAA president who signed the legalization of sports betting in Massachusetts, Campbell announced Thursday that he is working with government agencies and professional sports to combat the harms of youth sports betting in the state. announced a partnership with the team.
“Think of putting a highly addictive product, gambling, on a highly addictive device, a smartphone,” Campbell said at a press event announcing the partnership at TD Garden. “And while sports betting was illegal almost everywhere, it has become legal in dozens of states across the country in just a few years. We need to ensure that the possibility of gambling does not trap young people into a cycle of problem gambling, breaking the law and becoming addicted.”
The Youth Sports Gambling Safety Coalition, launched Thursday, includes the Attorney General's Office, Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Massachusetts Gaming Health Council, Citizen Action Project, NCAA, Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, and Boston Celtics. , the Patriots and the New England Revolution, which includes New England.
The plan is to develop an “evidence-based” education, training and health curriculum for 12- to 20-year-olds. Marlene Warner, CEO of the Massachusetts Gaming Health Council, said professional sports teams and sports media partners should communicate the risks of youth gambling and “spread the word that it's cool to wait. '' he said he would try to do so.
The Council, a statewide nonprofit focused on problem gambling and advocacy, will oversee curriculum development. The details of the curriculum and its development are still being worked out.
Campbell and Warner pointed out that addiction is a lifelong struggle. They described young people racking up debt on their parents' credit cards, depleting their college funds through gambling, or fearing to go to school because their bets were off.
“Data shows that young people who gamble are more likely to become dependent on alcohol and other drugs and experience depression than young people who do not gamble,” Warner said. “These stories are heartbreaking, but what's worse is that we don't have a ton of resources to help them.”
The U.S. Supreme Court gave states the power to legalize sports betting in 2018, and Massachusetts moved to welcome the potentially lucrative business. Ahead of the legalization of sports betting in Massachusetts, 61 percent of the state strongly or somewhat supported the idea, according to a 2021 poll commissioned by Plainridge Park Casino and Encore Boston Harbor.
A national poll conducted last year by the University of Massachusetts Lowell found that opinions were evenly divided on the issue, with 31% in favor of legalizing sports betting and 31% opposed. Sports betting is already big business in the commonwealth, generating well over $5 billion in revenue from bettors since its launch in March 2023.
“This is what everyone is calling a new era in sports gambling in Massachusetts and across the country,” Campbell said. “In this new world, more than ever, major sporting events are becoming major betting events. Betting on games and in-game performances is just a swipe away on millions of mobile phones across the Commonwealth. .”
Data shows that young people who gamble are more likely to become dependent on alcohol and other drugs and experience depression than those who do not gamble.
– Marlene Warner, CEO, Massachusetts Gaming and Health Council
The state's participation in the market through legalized tax gambling operations means it has a “responsibility to operate the market as safely and responsibly as possible,” she said. “That job must be difficult.”
Illegal gambling among young people is a subject of deep concern to regulators. According to an NCAA study released last year, sports betting is “pervasive” among people between the ages of 18 and 22, with 58% of those in that age group engaging in at least one sports betting activity. They answered that they have participated.
“If you think kids under 21 aren't doing this, you're kidding yourself,” Baker said in Thursday's announcement.
A focus on education, gaming regulators and Mr. Campbell also focused on the prevalence of advertising that young people may come into contact with, but illegal gaming sites and simply crossing the Massachusetts border are likely to lead to lower levels of It is an attempt to address the reality of choice for people. 21 people want to bet.
“I happen to live literally 20 minutes from Seabrook, New Hampshire,” said Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner Brad Hill. “Any 18-year-old can bet on a sporting event there. This is something that I, as a commissioner, my fellow commissioners, the attorney general, and others, are learning about gambling at the high school level as well as the middle school level. It means that we have come to understand that we need to capture the
Thursday's event came a day after Baker called on states to ban “prop bets” on college games. Prop his bets, or proposition bets, are bets on individual players or specific events that are not directly related to the outcome of the game. For example, a prop bet can focus on whether a player will score a certain point.
Baker said these bets contribute to a hostile environment on college campuses, where young athletes can seek an advantage or be targeted by classmates or bettors enraged by their losses. He said there is. But the former governor said he has no regrets about promoting sports betting throughout the state.
“The bill that came back from Congress included a nuanced approach to dealing with college sports, but it didn't allow for prop bets,” he told reporters. “So we think we did the right thing because we are one of 17 or 18 states that have legalized sports betting but not legalized prop bets in college sports.”
After Baker spoke at length in response to questions about college athletes, Campbell rewinded the conversation.
“This is bigger than the athletes,” she said. “This is bigger than college students, but of course college students are not in this condition at the appropriate age to place bets. Of course, they can buy lottery tickets, but they cannot place bets. School administrators across the commonwealth Based on the actions we've heard from students, when we say we're going back to middle school, we mean it.”
This article first appeared in CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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