Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
Teenagers have been placing bets on sports online, and some of those teens live in states where it is illegal altogether or prohibited to bet under the age of 21. The NCAA did a study on sports gambling and who is gambling and the results themselves are quite troubling. The survey found that respondents between the ages of 18 to 22 have placed at least one bet this year. The survey also revealed that 70% of students who live on a college campus are bettors. At least 40% of student bettors placed bets on their own teams. In terms of the money bets placed are between one to 50 dollars and the losses are between $10 to $300 a day. The losses are particularly steep in black bettors, some of whom have reported losing up to $500 in a day. Some bettors enlist fellow students as their bookies to place wagers for them. All of this became legal in 2018 when The Supreme Court lifted a ban on sports gambling.
Some states have taken measures to prevent minors from gambling. Iowa for example; has banned coaches, student-athletes, trainers, and referees from placing bets on sports. They’ve taken numerous precautions to keep minors from betting as well. Sportsbooks will have a list of prohibited bettors and must stop them from betting should they attempt to place a bet.
Recently making headlines on betting as a minor is Patriots wide receiver and ex-LSU standout Kayshon Boutte. According to CBS News he placed bets on over 9,000 games illegally as a minor. He did so by creating a fake gaming account and placing bets through said account on games. He turned himself in at Baton Rouge, Louisiana for felony computer fraud and misdemeanor Gaming Prohibited for persons under 21.
Betting can lead to gambling addictions, which is more likely to happen to a teenage brain still in development. Your brain isn’t fully developed until age 25, so even college kids younger than 25 carry more of a risk of gaining a gambling addiction. Gambling carries risks that minors may not fully understand or care about. If you happen to live in an area where minors can bet and gamble, make sure they are aware of the risks before they start betting.
Minors betting on sports isn’t new to the country. It’s been on the rise recently and starting to become the norm like other activities minors partake in underage. However some states are trying to put preventative measures in place to prevent these teenagers from the everlasting effects of an addiction that could take over their lives.
So, betting as a minor can get you arrested but minors still do it for the purpose of wanting to make a lot of money quickly and within the comfort of their own home. Betting can be dangerous especially if you decide to go through a bookie and make a deal to give them some of the winnings and don’t pay up.