The Price of Loyalty: How Sports Gambling Will Impact the Modern Fan

In 2017, the last full year before the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States, over $4.8 billion was legally gambled on sports in Nevada alone. This number pales in comparison to the estimated $150 billion that is gambled illegally on sports in the United States every year (Liptak, Draper). These numbers have continually grown year-over-year as the interest and demand in sports gambling has steadily increased. This trend will continue s states begin to legalize sports gambling and gambling operators set-up shop, allowing hundreds of thousands of people who had never placed a bet because of its limited access to now be able to do so. As fans begin to place legal bets on sporting events, there will be three types of fans who place bets: those who will never place a bet on a game involving their favorite team, those who will bet on games involving their favorite team but never against their favorite team, and those who will place bets on games involving and against their favorite team. This project explores how the modern sports fan will be impacted by the widespread legalization of sports gambling throughout the United States of America. As fans are able to place legal sports bets through their phones, computers, or at local sportsbooks and casinos, it will be interesting to see if the loyalty they have towards their favorite team remains as strong as ever or becomes divided between their favorite team and sports bets.