The new culture of sports betting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Photo: Aerial view of the Wisconsin by Carol M Highsmith

The students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created a culture around sports betting, and despite legislation preventing gambling on sports in Wisconsin, they are still finding ways to place bets. With gambling comes obvious dangers of addiction, money loss, and legal consequences, so how much are these students willing to risk for a little bit of fun?

Over the past five years, the legislation surrounding gambling in the United States has changed drastically, resulting in rapid expansion of the gaming industry. Although it may not be legal everywhere, it’s happening everywhere. 

In 2018, the Supreme Court decision, Murphy v. The National Collegiate Athletic Association struck down the existing legislation that barred sports betting nationwide, outside of Nevada. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 was previously in place to prevent new states from regulating sports gambling. This recent decision gave all 50 states the choice to introduce their own individual laws regarding sports betting.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Jason Lopez, an expert in sports gaming, said “gambling and gaming around sports has been in existence almost as long as sports themselves” and it is a “really common activity, regardless of its legality or illegality.”

Prior to 2018, betting on sports was still extremely popular, especially among young adults and college students. According to UW-Madison student, Joey, people under 21 commonly use bookies and offshore betting sites to bet on sports illegally in addition to the use of fantasy sports sites. 

“I use [fantasy betting sites] like PrizePicks and an app called Flip,” said UW-Madison sophomore Gavin Luebke. “It’s just like a fun thing that I do with friends.”

While sports betting was still federally illegal, fantasy sports betting rose as a legal alternative. Daily Fantasy Sports, which still involves wagering real money on projected player statistics or fantasy teams, is considered “a game of chance,” rather than “a game of skill,” which differentiates it from betting on a sportsbook. Because Daily Fantasy Sports do not involve betting on the outcome of a real game, it is a legal practice.

Photo: Prize Picks Website- Claire Zimmerman

“Daily Fantasy Sports is definitely gambling, right? It’s set up to be run and make money like a gambling business,” said Lopez. “So companies like Draftings and FanDuel created a whole industry out of nowhere because of this legal loophole.”

Following the 2018 Supreme Court decision, the landscape of sports betting shifted, as 36 states and Washington D.C. have legalized regulated sports betting. While many states have taken these steps to legalize, the laws are still quite complex and differ from state to state.

In Wisconsin, mobile online gaming has not been legalized, and the only legal sports betting remains at the one physical sportsbook at the Oneida Casino in Green Bay. 

So, college students who are not yet 21 are using fantasy sports because it is an available, legal option before they become of age to legally bet in their state. But, students in states where sports betting is illegal are using it as the only legal alternative. The latter is the case in Wisconsin and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

With the legalization of sports betting in many states came new opportunities to draw in new revenue. Since June of 2018, sportsbooks across the nation have brought in a total revenue of over $15 billion, according to Legal Sports Report. It is clear that the industry is booming. 

In 2020, The University of Colorado Boulder became the first university to accept a deal with a gambling company, PointsBet, and there have since been at least eight universities to follow similar partnerships.

The emergence of partnerships between major universities and online gambling companies was not a surprise. The schools have enormous alumni bases, full student bodies and fans nationwide that act as the perfect target for betting advertisements. The schools want the money and the gambling sites want the reach provided by the schools. 

However, while the industry seems lucrative, it has come with severe backlash. The deals are agreements allowing the gambling companies to advertise and promote gambling on campus. The legal gambling age is 21, so this means that companies are advertising gambling to a student body composed primarily of underage students. 

This is where the ethical questions arise. 

“In my mind it would be like a university partnering with like Marlboro and like putting ads out for cigarettes,” said UW-Madison student Joey, whose last name will be kept anonymous for legal reasons. “It’s morally not a great thing to do.”

Interestingly enough, the UW-Madison Sponsorship Policy specifically outlines that “sponsorship support from tobacco companies is not permitted,” yet states that “organizations associated with gaming are subject to additional review.” There is no precedent for gambling sponsorships, so there are no clear guidelines.

Photo: Camp Randall Aerial View, Ken Fager via Flickr

While young adults are more at risk for gambling addictions, according to the Mayo Clinic, schools and sportsbooks are directly targeting them with advertisements on campus. This is an obvious concern among students, parents, and community members, and the situation will likely change in the future. 

There is an overall lack of transparency as well as lack of oversight surrounding these deals because they are still in their infancy and the gambling industry is constantly evolving. There is no precedent for these new sponsorships and the long term consequences are still completely unknown.

“Once you legalize it, you do get oversight in ways that you wouldn’t otherwise, ” said Professor Lopez.

On March 28th, the American Gaming Association began to implement regulations and released revised regulations aimed to prevent marketing to college students. There are new rules preventing Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) deals, the use of “risk-free” advertising, and the use of underage individuals in sports betting advertising. 

After these increasing regulations and rising scrutiny from the community, CU Boulder and PointsBet just mutually terminated their agreement on March 29th, about three years after the initial deal.

As gambling legislation continues to develop there will likely be more controversy in this uncharted territory, and there may be additional regulations placed in the future.