Paper Number
ICIS2025-1486
Paper Type
Short
Abstract
In 2018, in a landmark legislation, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a federal ban on sports betting, allowing individual states to regulate the activity. This prompted rapid adoption and fueled a surge in online, platform-mediated gambling. Yet, accessibility provided by online betting platforms raises growing concerns about the broader societal impact. In this short paper, we examine whether the legalization of sports betting is associated with increases in crimes, specifically burglary and robbery, offenses closely tied to financial strain and opportunity. Using a panel dataset covering U.S. states and the District of Columbia from 2018 to 2023, we employ staggered difference-in-differences models to estimate causal effects. We find that legalization is associated with statistically significant increases in both crime categories. Theoretically, we extend General Strain Theory to digitally mediated environments. Our findings surface overlooked societal costs of legalization and platformization of gambling, and the expansion of digital markets.
Recommended Citation
Tripathi, Shagun and Basak, Ecem, "From Thrill to Theft: The Unintended Consequences of Online Sports Betting" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/sharing_econ/sharing_econ/5
From Thrill to Theft: The Unintended Consequences of Online Sports Betting
In 2018, in a landmark legislation, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a federal ban on sports betting, allowing individual states to regulate the activity. This prompted rapid adoption and fueled a surge in online, platform-mediated gambling. Yet, accessibility provided by online betting platforms raises growing concerns about the broader societal impact. In this short paper, we examine whether the legalization of sports betting is associated with increases in crimes, specifically burglary and robbery, offenses closely tied to financial strain and opportunity. Using a panel dataset covering U.S. states and the District of Columbia from 2018 to 2023, we employ staggered difference-in-differences models to estimate causal effects. We find that legalization is associated with statistically significant increases in both crime categories. Theoretically, we extend General Strain Theory to digitally mediated environments. Our findings surface overlooked societal costs of legalization and platformization of gambling, and the expansion of digital markets.
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19-SharingEconomy