Case Explained: Legalized gambling linked to increased crime, study finds • Ohio Capital Journal – Legal Perspective

Since legalized sports betting started in Ohio in 2023, bad consequences are piling up. Two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians are accused of throwing wild pitches to rig bets. And the number of Ohioans seeking help for problem gambling is way up.

Gov. Mike DeWine, who signed the law allowing sports betting, now says he regrets doing so. 

A new study by two Rice University researchers might give DeWine another reason for regret. It found that legal sports betting is associated with big increases in crime — especially assaults after home games that result in upsets.

In those cases, assaults nearly doubled — rising 93% — from the start of games to four hours after conclusion when compared to the period before sports betting was legalized. The peer-reviewed study by Hua Gong and Wenche Wang was published in the Journal of Sports Economics on Nov. 13.

“Sports gambling is exciting for fans and financially attractive for states, but our findings show it can also lead to more crime,” Gong said in a Rice University press release. “When people lose their bets or go through very stressful game moments, that emotional volatility can translate into aggressive behavior.”

The researchers used a “difference-in-differences” strategy to determine whether legalized sports betting can be linked to assaults, larceny and vehicle thefts. That means it compared periods before and after legalization using crime data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System.

The study looked at markets with NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams in 12 states that had legalized sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way in 2018. The last of the studied states did so in 2021. So Ohio wasn’t included because it wouldn’t legalize sports betting for another two years.

“We find a significant increase in crime between the start of a game and four hours postgame following the introduction of sports betting,” the study said. “This impact is particularly notable when the local team plays at home, and it intensifies if the outcome of the game differs from what the betting odds had predicted.”

When a game turns out differently than the odds predicted, that means losers outnumber winners, and some of those losers are bound to be upset.

Overall, the researchers saw crime increase 30% to 70% between the start of games and four hours after they ended after states had legalized sports betting. 

They also found that the effects before covid were greater than the period after stadiums reopened. But part of that could be attributable to crowd limits and social-distancing measures that were still in place.

They also found that the increased crime and violence spilled over into nearby states that hadn’t legalized sports betting.

“What surprised us most was that the increase in crime isn’t limited to states that legalize sports gambling,” said Gong, an assistant professor of sport analytics at Rice University. “Even neighboring states that do not allow betting see more crime on game days, likely because people travel to place bets and then return home.”