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Family Research Council Concerned About Student-Athletes and Gambling

On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing on the Student Athlete Protection Act (S. 2267), which closes the "Nevada loophole" in federal law, thereby banning gambling on college games in every state. The bill's impact would be felt nationwide by prohibiting sports gambling in Las Vegas casinos and eliminating the availability of published point spreads in newspapers.

"College sports betting is inappropriate and gamblers should be aware of its negative impact on student athletes," Parshall said. "We applaud Congress for acting on behalf of gambling's victims, especially our kids, for teens are more likely than adults to become pathological gamblers."

In a study recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics, "about 1.1million adolescents, ages 12-17 - 5 percent of America's 20 million teenagers - engage in severe pathological gambling each year."

Also, according to a Gallup Poll, 18 percent of teenagers (13 to 17) surveyed admitted to gambling on college sports in the past twelve months. The statistic for teens was two times higher than the 9 percent of adults who admitted to college sports gambling.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission, in its report to Congress last year, called sports wagering "a gateway behavior for adolescent gamblers."

There are student bookies on most campuses, organized crime is often involved, and consequences can be tragic - including suicide over unpaid debt. The Commission also reported a study which found that 5 percent of male student-athletes are involved in betting on their own games, providing insider information, or accepting money for performing poorly.

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