Online sports betting is big. How big? Americans wagered a staggering $120 billion on sports alone in 2023, with the vast majority of those bets placed online.

The Economic Club of Traverse City will host an expert for a talk about online sports betting’s explosive growth in the few years since the practice was first legalized in 2018. Dr. John Holden, an Oklahoma State University professor and published sports betting scholar, will speak to the club April 19 at the Hagerty Center.

His talk, part of a regular speaker series by the club, is open to the public. Advanced registration is required.

“It’s an opportunity to shed some light on that topic so we can learn more about the pitfalls and positives of that industry,” Andi Dolan, the club’s program chair, tells The Ticker. “It’s a great topic to speak on and educate the general public.”

Legalization of online sports betting and its subsequent rapid growth has some documented benefits, Holden tells The Ticker, namely substantial tax revenue that can be put to good use year after year. Nearly 40 states have legalized it since 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down a law that in effect prohibited the practice. It began in Michigan in early 2021. 

But increased gambling might also mean more gambling addiction, and Holden’s talk will focus in part on how states can “balance the conflicting interests of preserving individual autonomy while protecting societal welfare.”

“Personally I’m pretty agnostic toward gambling, but my view is that if these things are happening, and they are happening a lot, I would prefer that they happen in a situation in which we have protections in place,” he says. “We might as well do them in the safest way possible.”

The concern is that much easier access to sports betting – betting anywhere, anytime via a phone app, for instance, instead of having to drive to a casino – may lead to more problem gambling. While the situation is too new for hard data to support that line of thinking, Holden says there are some red flags.

“In terms of longitudinal data, (five years) is a pretty short span to draw many conclusions,” Holden says. “What we have heard anecdotally is that problem gambling centers, particularly the hotlines, are overwhelmed. They are being inundated by callers.”

Paula Lipinski is CEO of Addiction Treatment Services (ATS) in Traverse City, a 90-plus person operation that serves people throughout Northern Michigan struggling with many types of addiction and substance abuse problems. Requests for assistance with gambling addiction have significantly increased in recent years, she says.

“We're being asked to service more people specifically for a gambling addiction, and we're also seeing people that are being currently treated for substance use disorder who are then turning to gambling, especially with online gambling, because the ease of it,” she says.

ATS recently banned any form of online gambling at their recovery homes and other facilities because of the problem, Lipinski says.

“People are turning from their drug of choice – alcohol, opioids or whatever – and the next thing you know they’re spending all of their money on gambling,” she says.

Plenty of people can gamble responsibly without issue, of course, and Holden’s talk will also touch on how online options are changing the industry as a whole and likely will continue to do so. He’ll also discuss what changes he believes are coming from a regulatory and promotional standpoint.

“I think probably the most immediate thing on the horizon will be the reining in of advertising – the volume of advertising, the frequency of it, when it's shown, where it's shown,” he says. “I do think there will be some meaningful steps taken within the next five years to clamp down on that.”

The Economic Club of Traverse City, founded in 1979, has more than 200 members from the Grand Traverse region. More info can be found on their website.