In states where sports betting is legal, Americans are betting more on the talents of sports stars like Patrick Mahomes and Bobby Witt Jr. and heeding less advice from certified financial advisors.

Across the country, households are avoiding stock markets and using money that could otherwise be invested to bet on sports. One study, done in part by the University of Kansas, found that households gamble an average of more than $1,100 a year, and as money dries up, investments fall by 14 percent.

“If you think about it,” said Kevin Pisciotta, an assistant professor of finance at KU, “this is a gambling opportunity, unlike most things in casinos, where you could do research for yourself deceive into thinking that you have improved your chances.”

Families betting on over/under bets instead of the stock market is a worrying trend that could arise with sports betting in Missouri. But there’s more, and addiction counselors who spoke with The Beacon said state regulations aimed at stopping gambling addiction are weak.

On November 5, Missouri voters could legalize sports gambling by passing Amendment 2 and could face similar issues.

Kansas legalized sports betting in September 2022. In August, 10 sports betting-related calls were sent to the gambling addiction hotline. In 2023, there were 66 sports betting-related calls. This represents 18% of the 377 calls.

Stephenie Roberts, a certified gaming addiction counselor, said her message to Missouri lawmakers is to make programs available to help everyone.

“Over time, they might see more bankruptcies, suicide attempts (and) embezzlement,” Roberts said. “When people suddenly find themselves in debt, they become desperate. Once your brain gets addicted, it’s like any other addiction.

Sports betting is one of the most accessible types of gambling addiction, she said. Kansans just need to pull out their phones to bet instead of driving to the casino. These players can also bet everything in their bank account.

Accessibility isn’t the only problem: It’s the state’s lax regulations, said Roberts, chair of the South Central Kansas Problem Gambling Task Force.

Kansans can voluntarily lock themselves out of a sports betting site. But they could just write another one in a matter of minutes. The state offers free counseling, but a greater reliance on sports betting means there isn’t enough money in the fund, Roberts said. And sports game hotlines are promoted in ads, but that information is squeezed into the final seconds of the ads.

The National Council on Problem Gambling reviewed all states where sports gambling is legal. He found loopholes in Kansas law.

A September 2024 report indicated that Kansas was in the bottom third of states in the number of standards met.

The report notes that Kansas does not have state laws setting mandatory betting limits when creating accounts, does not have certain types of betting limits, does not require marketing campaigns on how to identify problematic gaming behavior and does not require audits. the effectiveness of policies and progress reports.

That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but Kansas law doesn’t clearly require state employees or sportsbooks to implement these rules.

The state simply isn’t proactive enough, Roberts said.

“The easier you make it to do these activities, the more they will do them and the more they will develop problems associated with them,” she said.

Layne Jacobson, a Colorado-based addiction counselor, said he would ask state lawmakers to limit the amount a person can bet, spend more on addiction prevention services and increase oversight of the age of the players.

Colorado state law requires anyone to be 21 years of age or older to play. Yet he has seen patients as young as 16 pass through the firewall.

“We’re still playing catch-up with online casinos,” Jacobson said, adding that new forms of gambling usually mean casinos are ahead of addiction counselors.

Andrew Burden placed sports bets in Kansas. He likes the added excitement that sports gambling brings, but he knows the dangers that sports betting can pose. Burden knows people who are so in debt that they’ve locked themselves out of apps.

Burden and other bettors who spoke to The Beacon said sportsbooks do a good job warning people about the dangers of betting. The FanDuel app, for example, will send reminders to players about how much time they spent on the app and how much they bet. FanDuel even alerts players when they deposit more money than they usually do on average.

Burden said, however, that sportsbooks could move more quickly to ban players who lose thousands.

“The other way around,” he said, “when people win a lot of money… they ban them from their sports betting.”

Top Missouri lawmakers did not respond to questions about possible state regulations if sports gambling is passed. Those who did said they were unaware of any discussions.

The Missouri Gaming Commission has the ability to introduce gambling regulations. The board did not respond to requests for comment on what it might do. He has said in past interviews that he would look to other states for help.

Unlike Kansas, Missouri would significantly increase its funding to combat problem gambling addiction.

Missouri first invested in a problem gambling addiction fund in 2001. Since then, the fund has received a total of $5.4 million. If passed, Missouri could invest $5 million into the problem gambling fund each year.

Justin Balthrop, an assistant professor of finance at KU, said people assume he is against sports betting because of his research. He is not. He just wants people to understand the full consequences of sports betting.

The study, “Gambling Away Stability: Sports Betting’s Impact on Vulnerable Households,” found that the amount of money invested in the stock market fell almost every quarter for the first three years after legalization in a state. He notes that the long-term financial risks of such a change fall more heavily on working-class households, with less margin for error.

Sean Benson, who bet on sports in Kansas, views sports betting as something fun, not a way to make a lot of money. He sees the appeal of sports betting on the stock market, even if he doesn’t.

A company’s stock price can go up or down and it’s not always clear why, he said. But he can see with his own eyes why a sports bet wins or loses.

“As a lifelong sports fan, it’s just what I understand best,” Benson said. “I would probably be more interested in stocks if I understood business.”

Benson doesn’t like the amount of sports betting advertising during games, but believes there are enough regulations in place to combat gambling addiction.

Balthrop said the study doesn’t have the data needed to suggest perfect changes to state law. But he wants players to be more aware of how easy it is to lose.

Most people know that the house always wins in a casino, he said, but sports bettors might be fooled into thinking they have the edge if they watch enough game tapes. But sports betting is also effective for making money.

“A lot of the potential negative consequences could be at least mitigated, if not eliminated,” Balthrop said, “if people could be a little more educated about what exactly the average sports betting profile looks like.”

This post has been corrected to spell Andrew Burden’s name correctly.

This article first appeared on Beacon: Missouri and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.