College Age Students Perfect Prey for Legal Regulated Sportsbooks
Following a lengthy investigative report by the New York Times uncovering that at least eight universities have hopped into bed with U.S. legal regulated online sportsbooks, Dave Ramsey of The Ramsey Show called them all out.
“You freakin’ idiots … Selling out your own students who you’re supposed to be caring for,” said Ramsey. “The No. 2 addiction in North America today — and fastest growing addiction in North America today — is online gambling. It starts with the sports betting as a gateway drug.”
Ramsey is a popular Consservive leaning personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman.
The New York Times expose noting how universities have ‘Caesarized’ campus life is summarized below.
The newspaper published a four-part series following a nearly yearlong investigation into the national expansion of legal sports betting and questioned some of the consequences.
Within the articles, the Times questioned different state-by-state sports betting tax structures and the lobbying practices used to influence lawmakers. The articles also disputed figures cited by the industry surrounding illegal offshore gambling operations, criticized efforts by sports betting operators to advance responsible gaming practices and examined questionable customer acquisition efforts that target college students.
The title of the Times resport most certainly has plenty to do with Caesars Sportsbook striking a $8.4 million dollar sports wagering deal with Michigan State University last year.
The New York Times also writes of how the University of Colorado Boulder collects $30 every time someone uses the university’s promotional code to download the PointsBet gambling app.
It's a problem.
“We believe that the risks for gambling addiction overall have grown 30% from 2018 to 2021, with the risk concentrated among young males 18 to 24 who are sports bettors,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the NCPG, in an interview.
Ramsey says this new phenomenon of sportsbooks joining forces with colleges is “way worse” than the relationship between universities and credit card companies. He dubbed this sports betting marriage as “stupidity on steroids.”
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
