The ‘epidemic’ of sports gambling

Betting on games is so widespread
that it has blurred the way we view athletics, experts say

By TERESA BLACK and SHWETA GOVINDARAJAN ~ Medill News Service - 9-3-03

WASHINGTON

ave, a 31-year-old Connecticut accountant, knows gambling on sports is illegal, but he thinks nothing of making a few $50 bets during college basketball season.

While the National Collegiate Athletic Association tackles the widespread problem of sports gambling, Dave, who asked that his full name not be used, said in an interview that sports betting has never been so easy and convenient.

“It’s gotten very automated, almost like an electronic withdrawal from your bank account,” he said.

Using offshore Internet sports books in exotic locales, including the Cayman Islands, Antigua and Costa Rica, he usually wagers on four or five games, setting a budget for himself and stopping once he’s hit his limit.

“It’s just a recreational form of entertainment. It adds a little spice for me,” he said.

Wagering on games is widespread in the United States, according to a 1999 report by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. One American in four is said to engage in sports betting.

Bettors illegally wager an estimated $80 billion to $380 billion on sports each year. About 118 million Americans bet on sports, a recent ESPN survey found.

“We’re talking about a society that has been desensitized to the issue of gambling,” said Bill Saum, director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. “We think people should be watching the game for the action, rather than the point spread.”

Point spreads, or the margins by which a team is expected to win, are published in newspapers across the country, perhaps legitimizing sports betting in the eyes of the public.

The NCAA maintains a hard-line stance on sports gambling, which officials say damages the integrity of the game. But it has made little progress curbing the practice. Nearly 30 percent of college athletes wager on sports, and 4 percent wager on their own games, Saum said.

“We believe there are student bookies on every campus in America,” he said. “What we have to do is educate our kids ... to the ills of sports wagering.”

Still, scandals persist. Point shaving, a way for athletes to manipulate their performance to meet bookies’ expectations, is a common form of game-fixing in college sports. Northwestern University in Illinois and Arizona State University are among colleges that recently experienced gambling scandals involving point shaving. Gambling rings have been uncovered at Michigan State, Rhode Island, Bryant, Northwestern and Boston College, among many others.

The federal government has been trying to curb sports gambling for decades, and the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act made sports betting illegal except in Nevada, Delaware and Oregon, where state law allows it.