It’s the best time of year: dream-crushing upsets, butchering brackets and leaving watch parties with your pockets feeling a little lighter than when you came in. March Madness is upon us. With it comes the economic monster of sports betting.
Last year, an estimated $2.7 billion was legally wagered on the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. This year, there is scheduled to be a 14.81% increase, making it a predicted $3.1 billion to be wagered according to the American Gaming Association, a gambling-industry group.
Where does sports betting get its appeal? Management major Patrick Ellison explained that one advantage is the entertainment value that sports betting brings.
“I do not encourage sports betting outside of trusted companies,” Ellison said. “That being said, I think a small bet here and there can be fun.”
Darin White, the Margaret Gage Bush Distinguished Professor and the Founder of Sports Industry Program argued that another advantage is that it sparks passion to a once-neutral audience.
“A lot of people gamble because it gives them a stake in the outcome of the game,” White said.
Professor Stephen Hill, associate professor of Data Analytics, teaches a class at Samford about sports analytics. One new innovation that his classes use is in-game wagering. This means that the spread of the game changes as the game occurs in real time, allowing a user to bet during the match.
“This data is really rich; we can see the impact that a player had on the probability that their team would win,” Hill said.
A disadvantage of sports betting is its addictive nature. Pre-business major Sterling Nabours explained that it’s important to set limits on how much you allow yourself to bet.
“It’s good to set buffers for yourself where you couldn’t get in trouble for it,” Nabours said.
Nabours works for a professional soccer team in Scotland, so he practices setting limits by not placing any bets on the team he works for.
“I get insider information from that team, I should not bet on that team, league or any other league that they’re playing in,” Nabours said.
White offered a Biblical perspective on the matter.
“God has given us this great and incredible gift called sports,” White said. “At the end of the day, it really is way more than just sports gambling-it’s what’s going on in your heart, because that’s what God is after.”
Ellison thinks that sports betting is just like any other indulgence.
“I don’t believe that it is a sin in it of itself, but overindulgence and addiction certainly can be,” Ellison said. “It’s all about self-control, and if you can still exercise self-control, I don’t see a problem with it.”
As The Big Dance of March Madness goes on, it’s more important now than ever to pay attention to the internal and external effects of sports betting.
“One thing about sports betting, it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” White said.
