You can now place your bets on sports teams in many places across the country, thanks to new laws and a number of betting apps that offer legal, regulated options. In fact, according to Morning Consult polling last year, 25% of Americans over 21 have bet on sports at least monthly.
With that in mind, a lot of people have questions about how to make a smart bet and the ethical implications behind it. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you place your next bet on the big game or the NHL playoffs.
In the NFL, players are prohibited from placing bets on their own team or while at a team facility. Athletes have been suspended for a year and more for doing so, as have coaches and other league personnel. It is important to understand that the rules surrounding gambling are clearly spelled out in each player’s contract.
The American Gaming Association has worked to pass laws that allow states to regulate sports betting. In a Supreme Court case, it successfully argued that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) was unconstitutional.
In Colorado, where voters approved legal sports betting in 2019, the state’s first retail and online sportsbooks opened in May 2020. A few months later, DraftKings, FanDuel, BetRivers, and PointsBet went live, with a total of nine sportsbooks currently available to the state’s residents. Ohio, another state that rolled out after PASPA’s repeal, launched its first retail and online sportsbooks in November 2021 with PlaySugarhouse, SugarHouse, and DraftKings going live shortly thereafter.
