“The fastest growing addiction that is destroying young men in their 20’s is online sports gambling. They’re screwing an entire generation of young men.” – Dave Ramsey

The younger generations of modern America have the same addictions and vices as older generations, simply in different packaging. After all, there is nothing new under the sun. One of most prolific addictions now facing Gen Z, particularly young men, is sports betting. The pastime is more destructive than other “traditional” forms of gambling, such as casinos and lotteries.

This year, the Legislature was presented with SJR504, which would have placed the question of mobile sports betting on the ballot for South Dakota residents to vote on. The measure passed the Senate 23-10, but was killed in a House committee 6-7. After being rejected by the committee, a procedural move called a “smoke-out” was attempted to force the delivery of the bill to the House chamber in spite of the committees decision. The smoke-out failed.

We’re grateful the legislature shut the door on mobile sports betting this session. We expect to see similar measures in future sessions, and we hope they are met with equal resistance from South Dakota’s elected officials.

Online sports betting may seem like a harmless pastime – and, to be sure, that’s how the commercial gambling industry has marketed it to younger generations. But sports betting is simply another form of predatory gambling. The organization “Stop Predatory Gambling” shared the following testimony before Minnesota lawmakers on a similar bill:

Predatory gambling is when state governments partner with powerful corporate gambling interests to use commercialized gambling – gambling being run as a business – to exploit citizens and their communities. Unlike any other business, in commercialized gambling,there is a predatory and adversarial relationship between the gambling operator and its customer, the gambler. They are trying to take you down.

Online gambling operators, their partners in government, and gambling industry lobbyists like to call it “regulated gaming.” But for the rest of us, the only term that accurately describes it is predatory gambling.

No form of commercialized gambling is more predatory and dangerous than online gambling which these bills would permit if passed. The reason is because it offers unlimited access and action to hardcore forms of gambling. It’s the equivalent of opening a Las Vegas-style casino in every bedroom, dorm room, office, smart phone, and computer with internet access across Minnesota, 24 hours a day. At the same time, the online gambling operator uses the latest data tracking and marketing technologies to induce citizens to gamble relentlessly with tactics such as “free gambling wagers” and a barrage of text messages offering “bonus bets.”

We do not want this in South Dakota.

Sports betting is now widely recognized as one of the fastest-growing addictions in America, primarily affecting young men ages 18 to 34. About 20% of sports betters are categorized as problem gamblers. The statistics show just how devastating gambling addictions can be:

• Addicts have a 15x higher suicide rate than non-addicts
• Addicts have a 65% divorce rate
• Only 20% can maintain their job and their addiction
• 63% are alcoholics
• An estimated 68 of the 210 reported embezzlements in 2023 were from a gambling addiction
• The average pathological gambler costs the insurance industry over $64k for fraudulent claims

Unfortunately, South Dakota already has a serious gambling problem. We are tied for first place with Nevada and Oklahoma for “Most Casinos Per Capita” and “Most Machines Per Capita.” In a ranking of “Most Addicted States,” South Dakota comes in second, right behind Nevada.

Our state should be trying to remedy this problem, not exacerbate it.

To make matters worse, we know that illegal betting increases after legalization. Four years after legalization began nationally, the American Gambling Association (AGA) sent a letter to former US Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for help. Rather than stamping out the illegal market by regulation, the US saw a drastic increase. The letter to AG Garland stated that “a vast illegal sports betting market continues to exist,” and that “52% of gamblers continue to utilize illegal bookmakers.”

“Internet searches for illegal betting sites increased by 38% last year, faster than the rate of searches for legal betting sites,” AGA wrote. “Searches for offshore online gambling brands represented a majority of all sportsbook searches.”

According to a study commissioned by the Massachusetts Gambling Commission (the state where DraftKings is headquartered), citizens who use illegal sports books in Massachusetts jumped from 4% in 2022 to 18% in 2023, after sports betting was legalized.

Not only would legalizing sports betting in South Dakota add to an already serious gambling problem in our state, but it would also almost certainly lead to an increase in illegal gambling activity.

Online sports betting would be a net-negative for our state.