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Legalized Sports Gambling Could Be Deadly To The Spirit Of Competition

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Sports gambling is now legal at the federal level. But it's still not legal in many states because of state constitutions.

Until 2018, there was a federal ban on commercial sports gambling. But that changed with a Supreme Court ruling last year, legalizing it.

Because of state constitutions, sports betting is still not legal in many states, including Wisconsin. But the potential repercussions would impact sports fans throughout the country. Historically, gambling has had a corrosive effect on the spirit of competition, creating financial incentives for fixing games. A famous example of this issue came in the early 20th century, in what is now known as the "Black Sox Scandal." 

"In 1919, gamblers fixed the World Series. The Chicago White Sox lost on purpose to the Cincinnati Reds. And I think that really sort of set people against sports gambling as a concept," says Mike Mirer, a journalism professor at UW-Milwaukee and a former sports reporter. 

Credit Wikimedia
"Fix these faces in your memory." This image ran in various newspapers in 1920 after news broke about the Black Sox Scandal.

Mirer has researched media ethics for sports reporters. He says as legalized sports gambling proliferates, there remain a lot of questions about how it could damage the spirit of competition. Mirer believes that professional leagues like the NBA, MLB, and NHL, are less-likely to have gambling scandals because of how the players are compensated and held accountable by the media. 

The major concern is over college sports and lower-level professional teams. They are either unpaid or paid far-less than their major-league counterparts. 

"The thing about gambling is that it monetizes information, right? So, details about what's happening in the games or what's going to happen gets an economic value," says Mirer. "If you're the third string linebacker on the University of New Mexico's football team, you know whether your better player is going to play and you don't have a pro career to look forward to — that's always been a concern, I think, for college sports."

Joy is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.