The impacts of sports betting

Published September 7, 2023 at 7:45 AM CDT

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Football fans wait for kickoff in the sports betting lounge at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 9, 2018. When the NFL season kicks off this week, Kentucky residents and visitors — for the first time — will be able to legally place sports bets on something other than horse racing, When they do, they also will be funding the state's first-ever program for people with gambling problems. (Wayne Parry/AP)

With pro football back on TV with kickoff Thursday night, millions of Americans will legally bet on this game.

Five years ago, the Supreme Court paved the way for states to legalize sports betting. And today, sports gambling is now legal in two-thirds of states. It’s a growing revenue stream for those states and the NFL.

But there’s a darker side: addicted sports gamblers and athletes suspended for betting, among other issues.

Professor Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, joins us.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.