Congress Sounds Alarm Over Sports Betting on College Campuses

A congressional committee spent time this week discussing a growing crisis on college campuses.

The House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development held a session titled “Rise of Sports Gambling on College Campuses.” During the two-hour meeting, lawmakers discussed the growing issue and measures to combat it. It is hoped that the discussion will lead to bills to fight it being proposed during the next legislative session. 

The talks discussed both regulated sports betting and sports prediction markets.

Study Delivers Alarming Results

US Rep. Michael Baumgartner shared the results from a recent NCAA study on sports betting among college students. He highlighted several of the report's most concerning numbers in a press release after the meeting.

Nowhere has the surge of online betting been more pronounced than college campuses. Young people, and young men in particular, gamble at outsized rates. According to an NCAA survey, 67 percent of students living on campus had bet on sports, and 16 percent had shown problem gambling behaviors such as ‘chasing losses’ or spending more money on bets than they planned. Six percent of students reported losing more than $500 in a single day. Those figures are from 2023 and are likely even higher today.

Prediction Markets Add Danger

Regulated sports betting remains the most common way Americans wager on sports, but prediction markets continue to grow in popularity. These platforms are currently exempt from state gambling laws and taxes, claiming sports markets aren’t gambling.

Because prediction platforms don’t abide by state gambling laws, many set their minimum age at 18. This means the overwhelming majority of college students now have access to legal sports betting across the US. 

It has also allowed high school seniors to wager on sports, forming the habit shortly before they leave home for the first time. This makes them high-risk for problem gambling and could be helping to feed the spike in gambling on college campuses.

Finding a Solution is Complicated

Many lawmakers at the state and federal level will agree that sports betting on college campuses is a concern, but that doesn’t mean they’ll agree on a solution.

One key hurdle is that states can create their own rules and regulations. While Congress has discussed creating federal regulations, state lawmakers have strongly rejected these efforts, arguing they should control their own markets.

This issue is about more than regulatory authority, however.

While states have been trying to pass new laws to tackle the rise of problem gambling, many of those efforts have failed over financial concerns. Many states have come to depend on the tax revenue the industry generates, which is funneled into crucial programs. Major regulatory changes will cut that revenue significantly, making it difficult for lawmakers to support them.

Congress discussing the issue is a good sign, but don’t expect it to lead to real changes anytime soon.