Abdimalik Mohamed, sports editor

In the United States, 38 states have some sort of legalized sports gambling and many more are working to legalize it. Sports gambling is a topic that has been controversial and debated for a long time. Many people don’t know anything about sports gambling — and to be honest many people don’t care — but whenever you watch a sporting event or you’re at an arena for a concert, you can’t help but notice all the sports gambling around you. DraftKings, Fanduel and Caesars are some of the biggest sports betting sites in the United States and over the past couple of years it seems like their popularity has exploded, especially in those aforementioned 38 states. However, Minnesota is one of the states that hasn’t legalized it and, if recent developments are of any indication, it probably won’t. 

On one hand, it’s your money and you can use it any way you want, whether it be gambling at a casino, on a mobile app or at a bar. On the flip side though, there are statistics out there that sports gambling is something that takes its toll on your checkbook among other vital parts of your life. NBC News states, “Researchers found that compared with states that did not implement sports gambling, states that did so saw credit scores drop by a statistically significant, though modest, amount, while bankruptcies increased 28% and debt transferred to debt collectors climbed 8%. Auto loan delinquencies and use of debt consolidation loans also increased, they found.” 

Going back to the recent developments, there was a proposal in the Minnesota State Senate by DFL Sen. Matt Klein that, as CBS News explains, “would’ve allowed for sports betting at the state’s casinos and through mobile apps. Under the plan, Native American tribes — which run the casinos — have exclusivity over both in-person wagers and contracting with online platforms. The state’s horse racing tracks were set to get a slice of the revenue pie, since there wouldn’t be sports gambling allowed at their locations.” All of the professional sports teams in Minnesota have approved this legislation because they want a cut of the profits in the gambling through sponsorships and commercials. The plus side for these teams is fairly obvious but another wrinkle to this is that certain sports teams have now started to put sportsbooks in their buildings — another incentive for people to go to games and gamble at games. 

I personally believe that sports gambling is something that shouldn’t be a thing in Minnesota. The positives don’t outweigh the negatives, people usually don’t get a return on their investment and these professional sports teams prey on people’s propensity to gamble as a way to get them to keep coming back to their games. At the end of the day though, it is up to the state senators and state representatives to get something done or not because it feels like every couple of months the topic pops up again, there is movement and then nothing happens. We need a final decision.