The gambling industry has exploded in recent years with the advent of online and sports betting.
As the industry continues to grow at a record pace, expanding to heights that it’s never before seen, some ethical dilemmas have been raised. Whether it’s the ease of access afforded by mobile betting, the types of events that one can place a bet on or who, exactly, is permitted to partake in the industry, rapid growth causes a new series of hurdles for consumers, regulators and producers alike to take into consideration.
Here’s a look at the latest ethical considerations at play in the sports gambling industry, as well as what betting operators like casinos and sportsbooks are doing to ensure they’re carrying themselves at adequate standards.
1. Ease of Access
One of the chief selling points of the mobile gaming industry is just how easy it is for one to get their feet wet in the industry. Provided you’re in a state where mobile gambling is legal, whether because you’re on vacation or because you’re a permanent resident, all one needs to do in order to begin betting is download one of the myriad apps available and follow a quick series of prompts. From there, they’re ready to dive into the action.
That’s the name of the game in our increasingly online world, as efficiency and ease of access become of paramount importance to a generation with a TikTok video length attention span, but it comes with a fair share of risk. In the old days, one would have to travel to a physical location like a casino in order to place wagers.
That created a layer of detachment, making it difficult to support problem gambling habits because one would have to factor in transportation time, cost, and locations just to be able to place a bet. Now that one can do it with a press of a button on their phones, the stage is set for problem gambling to become an increasing concern.
In order to combat this, many casino apps now offer things like mandatory cooldown periods, where a bettor won’t be able to use the platform for a specific amount of time if they exceed a set limit of money deposited or bets placed. This isn’t a perfect solution, as it relies on self reporting from people who could already be struggling with gambling addiction, but it’s a step in the right direction for a program still in its infancy.
2. Betting Promotions: Benefits and Downsides
We’ve seen the betting industry take the United States by storm in recent years, and one factor driving that outlandish success is the enticing promotions offered for new and returning bettors. Sportsbook promos like deposit matches and risk-free bets are a great way for betting operators to encourage new users to get started with their platforms, but as with the ease of access created by mobile betting apps, it isn’t a perfect scenario.
These promos have come under fire in recent months because they give betting operators an easy work-around when Tax Day rolls around each April. Because sportsbooks and casinos can write off the deposit matches or risk free bets they offer at a loss, they’re able to reduce the amount of taxable income available for federal and state governments to get a share of… something that the various government agencies aren’t too happy about.
As the law exists today, what betting operators are doing is perfectly legal, but it’ll be interesting to see if new legislation is passed to change that: we’ve already seen rumblings that that could be the case.
3. Betting Options
This consideration applies specifically to sports betting. Professional leagues like the MLB and NBA have always had a tense relationship with betting operators out of a fear that athletes could place bets on the games they’re taking part in, throwing matches in order to win big themselves.
With the renaissance of sports gambling since 2018, though, many of the leagues have welcomed betting platforms with open arms, scoring endorsement deals with apps like BetMGM and Caesars Palace. Athletes in those leagues have still received heavy penalties for partaking in sports betting, even if they aren’t betting on themselves or their teams. It’ll be interesting to see how the leagues try to find a balance between earning the big endorsement bucks and doing right by their players.
Similarly, some states only allow betting on professional contests because they don’t want amateur players like college athletes to be unduly influenced like the pros could be.
