Legal sports betting: A safer alternative or regulated degeneracy?

The New York Times has conducted an investigation into the illegal sports betting industry. The paper claims that it is unfair to compare legal betting with illegal ones. It is also unfair not to show the difference between legal and illegal betting. The Times should compare the legal to illegal options. Legal sportsbetting is now legal in New Yorkers. People will not stop gambling, whether it's legal or illegal. There is enough evidence that criminalization will do nothing to rid us of addiction. For a paper like The New Year's Times to conduct such an extensive investigation and not mention the fact that even poorly regulated legalization is safer than black market betting seems like a journalistic failing or an agenda.