Who wins in online sports betting? Hickory writer asks

Online sports wagering begins in the state of North Carolina on March 11, coordinated no doubt to allow for betting on this year’s ACC basketball tournament. Even though I enjoy a good NCAA pool or a friendly Super Bowl wager as much as the next sports fan, I’m a little leery of putting online wagers at the touch of a button in everyone’s hands every day.

Well, almost everyone’s hands. Bettors aged 21 and up can place money in an account and begin making wagers via mobile devices only. The N.C. Lottery Commission, which will oversee the betting, has already approved seven applications from sports betting operators with other applications still pending. In-person wagers will likely follow depending on sports betting operators meeting state requirements.

If you’re wondering how this became legal in our state, it was a 2018 Supreme Court decision that started the ball rolling, pun intended. With the addition of North Carolina, there are now approximately 40 states which allow sports wagering of some kind.

Some would say if you know the story of the 1919 World Series, you know sports wagering is hardly new, so why not just legalize it and collect the tax revenue? That’s almost certainly the way our state legislature looked at it.

Estimates vary widely, but online sports betting is easily expected to become a $200 billion industry by 2030. It has already far exceeded expectations for revenue each year since legalization. So many other states are benefitting from it, why should North Carolina miss out?

The Carolina Panthers selected a particular wagering website this week as their official sports betting partner. Nowhere in the announcement did it say how much they were paid for this partnership, but rival sports franchises in other states have already been profiting from similar betting company partnerships. So why shouldn’t the Panthers get theirs?

This same sports betting company has also reached deals with hockey teams, NASCAR race teams, and even golf tournaments and golf courses in our state. If NFL teams can benefit from these partnerships, why shouldn’t other sports and local golf courses profit?

In a $200 billion industry, there’s a whole lot of money to go around. The sports betting operators will make a ton of money, the government will get their portion, the sports teams profit, and the fans don’t risk the consequences of illegal wagering.

There’s an old saying when playing poker, “If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you’re the sucker.”

All that money filling their coffers is your money. Sure, they’re passing out free money in the form of Bonus Bets left and right to get you to sign up online right now, but rest assured that will come to an end quickly once they have everyone hooked.

And people will get hooked. Research shows 1%-2% of Americans (2 to 4 million adults) will have a gambling disorder at some point in their lifetime. I suspect the proximity to access being in their pockets every day will only increase those numbers.

Kenny Rogers already gave us the guidance we needed on this in the ‘80s: “Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em. Know when to walk away, know when to run”

Cami Hepler is a lifelong animal lover, year-round sports fan, and part-time freelance writer from Hickory.