NPR Says More Needs to Be Done to Address Problem Gambling

The nation has headed into uncharted waters with this year’s March Madness expected to generate $3.1 billion in total sports betting handle placed with regulated sportsbooks in the United States.

NPR Argues the Case for More Support for Problem Gamblers

This has prompted National Public Radio (NPR) to question whether initiatives supporting and aiding problem gamblers have moved nearly as fast as the legalization of sports gambling, iGaming, and poker across the nation.

In an opinion piece, Katia Riddle said that March Madness was indeed a season for betting, but that “help for problem gambling was hard to find.”

Riddle was referring to the fact that responsible and problem gambling have been ongoing issues for the legalization of the industry and the fact that data is still patchy on how many people receive help and if it’s effective. This has not stopped individual states from pursuing player-centric solutions, however.

At the same time, some studies have called into question the economic value of gambling legalization, arguing that the potential loss in economic value due to problem gambling would match or exceed the potential gain from gambling legalization.

Riddle, who specializes in covering mental health matters, has argued that no federally funded framework specifically protects people suffering from gambling-related harm, arguing that there is one for addictions that are tied to tobacco, alcohol, and substances.

The NPR has acknowledged the view of trade groups such as the American Gaming Association, which was quoted by the media. Senior VP for strategic communications Joe Maloney told NPR that there is a “vast predatory and pervasive illegal market sitting there as a digital storefront right next door to legal operators.”

Maloney is referring to the fact that many illegal casinos continue to persist and target American citizens, often operating on thin legal terms such as a “grey market” interpretation of the local laws. This has prompted many regulators and states to act sweepingly against the sectors serving the largest companies with cease-and-desist letters.

However, the NPR argues that despite these intentions, there is still a lack of complete understanding of how many people suffer from gambling-related harm in the United States.

Problem Gamblers’ Numbers Are Anyone’s Guess

In other words, no one is measuring it, argues director of the Gambling Research and Policy Initiative at East Carolina University, Michelle Malkin, with the exact number of problem gamblers in the United States speculatively placed at anything between 1.2% and 6.2% of the population.

The severity of the problem may also vary. For example, some players may be exhibiting “severe” symptoms of problem gambling while others may be suffering from a more moderate form of the problem that could evolve into a more severe one.

Ultimately, the NPR has sounded the alarm that the government needs to be doing more to address this or, at the very least, get a clear hold of the actual number of gambling addicts in the country.