New Jersey treatment experts have warned New York officials that legalization of sports betting applications could have serious consequences as they could seriously boost gambling addiction rates.
According to a new report that was rolled out by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, the number of people who call the gambling hotline of the state of New Jersey has more than doubled since online sports betting through gambling applications was given the green light in June 2018.
Currently, the state of New Jersey allows people to place sports bets both in brick-and-mortar casinos and through remote gambling applications. According to statistics, the majority of gamblers, 84% prefer to place their bets over the Internet.
New York, however, has so far officially permitted only in-person sports betting. For the time being, such services are available at four upstate casinos. There have also been talks about whether to expand the sector through the legalization of online sports betting or not.
The executive director of the Council, Neva Pryor, has been against such expansion. In her opinion, it would be better if local players can place bets only in person. The around-the-clock availability and easy accessibility of online betting options could be dangerous, according to her.
Helpline Calls from Problem Gamblers Doubled Since Online Gambling Legalization
According to the report issued by the Council on Compulsive Gambling, the number of calls related to sports betting that have been received by the helpline before the legalization of online sports betting services in 2018 was about 1 to 5% of their overall number. Once online sports betting got legal in the state, the figure doubled to 10.8%.
The average number of calls registered by the helpline every month is about 96, and the sports betting-related ones increased to more than 10 of these.
Some New York lawmakers and supporters of gambling have been urging the state to make sports betting applications officially legal. So far, this effort has not been successful, with Governor Andrew Cuomo saying “no” to the move. The state of New York, however, is expected to experience some financial difficulties in 2020, with an estimated shortfall of $6 million expected. Having that in mind, some analysts have shared projections that local politicians might reconsider their decision to stay away from online sports betting services’ legalization.
Unfortunately, the changes that might be made in the legal gambling framework, could lead to higher rates of gambling-related harm and an increase in the number of gamblers affected by problem gambling behavior. This is what has been troubling the Council’s executive director Pryor and she has feared that the availability and accessibility of sports betting would make things worse for people who suffer from compulsive gambling behavior.
The rising number of people who get hooked on gambling at a time when the availability of gambling is rising through online-based sports betting apps is concerning, so local legislators would have to be careful to ensure strict control on operators and maximum protection to players.
