Listen as senior producer Zach Dyer reports on the public health concerns over online sports betting and a fund in Missouri that might help with addiction treatment and prevention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The parking lot at the Super One Stop in Granite City, Illinois, is full. The convenience store just across the Mississippi River from Missouri sells liquor, cigarettes, and some groceries. But not all the cars belong to customers. It\u2019s a Sunday morning in the middle of football season, and the people sitting in their vehicles are mostly looking down at their smartphones.<\/p>\n
Nick Krumwiede is sure the people parked around him are betting on the day\u2019s NFL games. That\u2019s why he\u2019s there. Krumwiede drove 15 minutes across the state line from his home in St. Louis to place three bets, including one on his beloved Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n
Krumwiede could have driven to a casino in East St. Louis, Illinois, to bet on the games in person. But with apps like DraftKings and FanDuel on his smartphone, he doesn\u2019t need to make the trip. He can place his bets in this parking lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Sunday football, everybody,\u201d Krumwiede said. \u201cI guarantee you that\u2019s what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see them all sitting in there staring at their phones?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Public health experts say smartphone-based betting makes it easier for people to get into deep gambling trouble fast. But it takes effort to drive to a parking lot across state lines to bet on an NFL game. Soon, Missouri gamblers will be able to place those bets from their couches. Voters approved sports betting in Missouri in a November ballot initiative, and the state could start issuing sports betting licenses as soon as this summer.<\/p>\n
The ballot measure requires the state to dedicate at least $5 million a year from its sports betting tax revenue to combat compulsive gambling. Supporters of the measure said that increase in resources could help the state address harms associated with gambling addiction. In other states, the introduction of online sports betting has been linked to increased calls to hotlines for problem gambling.<\/p>\n
Estimates of the state\u2019s revenue from sports betting range from $12.8 million to $20.5 million, according to a fiscal note<\/a> for a previous bill to legalize sports betting.<\/p>\n Carolyn Hawley is a professor<\/a> at Virginia Commonwealth University who researches problem-gambling addiction, treatment, and harm reduction. She has tracked Virginia\u2019s experience since sports betting started there four years ago.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWe don\u2019t even have to leave our homes anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cWe now have them on our smartphones. We can do it anytime, anyplace.\u201d<\/p>\n In Virginia, some primary care providers have started asking their patients about their gambling habits, Hawley said. Doctors have shared reports of stress-related ailments, she said, especially in young men who had been betting on sports.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re coming in with GI issues<\/a>. They\u2019re coming in with heart issues<\/a>. They\u2019re coming in with depression<\/a>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sports bettors tend to be younger and male. In a recent poll<\/a> of registered voters, Fairleigh Dickinson University found that a quarter of men under 30 bet on sports online. Problem gamblers make up 10% of that group, compared with 3% of the overall U.S. population.<\/p>\n After the legalization of sports betting in Virginia, Hawley observed a spike in calls to her state\u2019s gambling helpline: 1,000% more from 2019 to 2023.<\/p>\n Hawley, who is also the president of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling, said 200% more people were looking for resources to quit gambling.\u200a\u200aOther states have seen similar trends.<\/p>\n Dozens of states have legalized sports betting after a Supreme Court decision cleared the way in 2018, including every state that borders Missouri save one, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n Supporters who pushed for sports betting in Missouri say people already cross into other states to gamble. They argue that Missouri has missed out on valuable tax dollars that could, in part, help fund gambling treatment and prevention efforts in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cThe beautiful thing about being the 39th state to do something is you are able to take a look at what has worked and what hasn\u2019t worked in other states,\u201d said Jack Cardetti, spokesperson for Winning for Missouri Education<\/a>, a group made up of Missouri professional sports teams<\/a> and sports betting companies that supported the ballot initiative. \u200a\u201cIf we\u2019re going to have an expansion of gaming here in the state of Missouri,\u201d he said, \u201cwe also need to expand the resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Missouri spent just $100,000 on problem gambling in 2023 and zero dollars the year before that. The state is still developing a plan to spend the money earmarked from the ballot initiative.<\/p>\n In Illinois at the Super One Stop, store owner Himang Patel said he doesn\u2019t mind sports bettors using his parking lot to gamble on their phones. Some people sit up to an hour, and Patel said that can be an opportunity to sell a pack of cigarettes or bag of chips. He guessed that the extra foot traffic will die off when sports betting becomes legal in Missouri.<\/p>\n Krumwiede said he\u2019s looking forward to not having to make the drive across the state line, but he\u2019s also mindful that easier access could come with risks. He knows gambling can be addictive.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes I have bad days where I go out and put out a hundred bucks and I lose almost all of it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a sinking feeling. You don\u2019t talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Krumwiede tries to set rules for himself so he doesn\u2019t lose too much money at any one time.<\/p>\n He said he is looking forward to not having to make the drive to Illinois after sports betting starts in Missouri. But he\u2019s worried, too. He said there were periods in the past when he lost too much money.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little scary, but I\u2019m just going to have to make new rules,\u201d Krumwiede said.<\/p>\n He has a few more months to figure it out.<\/p>\n\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n