US House subcommittee seeks to curb rates of problem gambling among students as sports betting remains prevalent on campus
On Veterans Day, a day off for most Americans each year, a US House Subcommittee appeared busy at work on Wednesday morning.
Roughly a week after the closely-watched midterm elections, the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development convened to discuss an escalating societal issue that has grown exponentially over the last decade, according to numerous politicians and public health experts. At a hearing that lasted nearly two hours, several committee referenced Veterans Day, a national holiday in the US since 1938 dedicated to honouring veterans of World War 1.
Faced with challenges such as anxiety, depression and PTSD, compulsive gambling is a challenge for many active-service members. According to recent findings from Kindbridge Behavior Research found that the cohort screens positive for problem gambling at a rate of 68.6%, a nearly four-fold rate to the general population. The hearing on Wednesday at the House Rayburn Office, though, focused on another vulnerable population: student athletes and their peers on university campuses throughout the US.
From the outset, Rep. Michael Baumgartner, subcommittee vice chair, made it clear that lowering rates of problem gambling among college students should be a major priority for the industry. Baumgartner (R-WA) cited findings from an undergraduate survey released last month which found that 31 percent of male students and 25 percent of female students know someone who had experienced ‘financial distress or academic fallout from online wagering losses.
“Students who had gambled online were 10 percent more likely to report having struggled to pay for basic expenses such as medication, transportation, and housing than students who had never gambled,” he said.
Next steps
Among the litany of topics discussed on Capitol Hill ranged from prediction markets to sports integrity, as well
as personal debt and loss chasing. Two witnesses, Cindy Clouner of The Ohio State University and Dr. Lindsey Mortenson of the University of Michigan, specialise in research on mental health treatment and addiction recovery. A third, Dr. Daniel Durkin, an associate professor at the University of Mississippi, fielded questions on on how sports betting has exposed student-athletes to harassment. Durkin also raised concerns about the integrity of college athletics.
The subcommittee convened the hearing as federal prosecutors in Philadelphia continue to sort through a sweeping point-shaving case that ranks as arguably the most pernicious investigation into match fixing in college basketball since the infamous CCNY scandal of 1951. One ringleader, Mississippi resident Marves Fairley, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the conspiracy. Arlando Arnold, a former Southern Miss guard, entered a guilty plea last month.
“Let’s say you’re a college basketball player. There’s a possibility your roommate might get into some gambling trouble and might come to you and say ‘hey, I’m not asking you to throw the whole game. Could you just miss a free throw or two?’ So that temptation becomes so ever present, particularly if it’s coming from someone they care about,” said Durkin, at the hearing.
The subcommittee also heard from Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chair Jordan Maynard, the lone regulator on the panel. Maynard, an avid sports fan, told the subcommittee that Massachusetts has instituted a ban on prop wagers involving college athletes.
NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former Massachusetts Governor, has advocated for a nationwide ban on props in college sports. Baker previously testified at a Senate hearing on sports betting in 2024.
Last month, the NBA and its official sports betting partners approved restrictions on a slew of objectionable props. Baker will appear next month at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States winter meeting in Savannah, Ga.