Congress examines rise in sports betting on college campuses

Today, the rise of betting on college campuses taking center stage on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers now trying to figure out how to rein in students who are gambling at higher and higher rates. Homa Bash live on the University of Maryland campus tonight with more on this. Homa. Jim, good evening. We know sports betting has exploded nationwide since it became legalized, not just for adults, but for teenagers too. And these rates are incredibly high. Now Congress wants to try to figure out what can be done because it has become so problematic for students. You used to have to go to Vegas to gamble. Now you have this mini casino in your pocket, in your hand at all times. Young people today are gambling online, offline, legally, illegally, domestically, and offshore. Speed is a huge problem. The faster you can gamble, the faster small problems become big ones. And this combination of fast gambling and few guardrails is why we are on pace to create the largest generation of problem gamblers in U.S. history. Another survey alarmingly found that more than one in five students have even used financial aid to place bets. So sports betting is legal in 39 states. Prior to the Supreme Court's landmark decision, Americans were wagering about $5 billion a year through regulated sports books. Last year, $167 billion. Just to give you an idea of how much it has exploded. That is a 3,000% spike in less than a decade, and it is pervasive on college campuses. 67% of students have bet on sports, according to a recent survey. 16% had shown problem gambling behaviors, like chasing losses or spending more money than they planned. 6% of students reported losing more than $500 in a single day. I just spoke to a University of Maryland professor who specializes in gambling and addiction. He says the apps can use oftentimes powerful AI algorithms to lure people, especially young people, into gambling more, more money, more often. The worst case scenarios are really bad. And so unlike alcohol and drug use, gambling is not self-limiting. So there's definitely many, many stories of people gambling their own wealth away, and And then the wealth of their loved ones. Now, DraftKings, one of the biggest sportsbooks, has pushed back on claims that they use AI algorithms to target problem gamblers. They say that is simply not what they do. There are several bipartisan bills on the Hill right now to try to figure out how to regulate sports betting, sports gambling, these prediction markets. Meanwhile, just recently this week, California Congressman Ro Khanna saying he wants to ban these prediction markets congressionally outright. So, of course, this conversation is still just now really getting started. Jim Marina.