Why US Universities Encourage Online Sports Gambling...

2018 Decision to Legalize Sports Gambling
Eight US Universities Blinded by Fees Partner with Online Sports Gambling Companies
Gambling Firms Target Financial Vulnerability of Public and State Universities

On the 20th (local time), The New York Times (NYT) reported that since the legalization of sports gambling in 2018, at least eight American universities have partnered with online sports gambling companies and have been promoting gambling activities targeting students. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] Prestigious universities in the United States have been turning a blind eye to millions of dollars in commissions by partnering with online gambling companies to encourage enrolled students to engage in sports betting. In particular, some universities have even conducted promotional activities targeting underage students for whom gambling is legally prohibited.

On the 20th (local time), The New York Times (NYT) reported that since the legalization of sports betting in 2018, at least eight U.S. universities have formed partnerships with online sports betting companies and have been promoting gambling activities to students.

Caesars Sportsbook began establishing online gambling systems on campuses starting in 2020. After a $1.6 million (approximately 2.1 billion KRW) contract with the University of Colorado Boulder proved highly successful, the company began proposing 'campus gambling' contracts to prestigious sports universities nationwide.

Louisiana State University also signed a similar contract with the same company in the same year. Using the online betting system installed on campus, students can place bets ranging from as little as $1 to as much as $30 on various sports games, including predicting winners and scores.

The biggest obstacle for the company was that, under U.S. law, the legal gambling age is 21. Most lower-year university students were younger than this age.

However, the company's concerns proved to be unfounded. Not only third- and fourth-year undergraduates but also graduate students, researchers, and faculty members eagerly used the betting system. To use the system, users must input or have recognized various forms of identification verifying their age into a verification device installed in the system. As the campus betting system gained tremendous popularity, Caesars Sportsbook developed a betting app for smartphones and distributed it to university students.

Not only Caesars Sportsbook, which specializes in online gambling, but also gambling companies operating actual casinos such as Stone Resort and Casino and WinStar World Casino and Resort have been signing formal contracts with U.S. universities and operating campus gambling facilities. Marketing departments of sports teams at prestigious universities known for both sports and academics, such as Syracuse University and Texas Christian University, have become targets of these gambling companies.

Campus gambling began to flourish as a money-making method for U.S. universities after the COVID-19 pandemic, which lasted nearly three years starting in early 2020. Public and state universities with lower tuition fees were much more active in signing campus gambling contracts than prestigious private universities with high tuition and fees. Due to the financial characteristics of U.S. universities, which receive no financial support from the education department, these universities need to earn every penny possible to effectively operate various sports teams. This financial vulnerability of public and state universities was exactly what gambling companies targeted.

The New York Times quoted a senior official from a state university saying, "Universities must somehow secure finances to operate various programs for students' academic pursuits," adding, "If operated legally and not illegally, sports betting gambling cannot necessarily be considered bad for students." The official also pointed out, "In the case of state universities, the total number of undergraduate and graduate students ranges from as few as 15,000 to as many as 30,000," and "Gambling companies that operate betting on numerous sports games every week targeting these students are solely focused on creating new revenue streams."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.