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In the seven years since the U.S. Supreme Court gave a green light for states to legalize sports betting – 39 have done so – dozens of professional and collegiate athletes have been punished for gambling violations. Last week, the National Basketball Association was engulfed in a scandal after the federal indictment of a current NBA player, a retired one, and a current head coach. They allegedly gave inside information to illegal gamblers. How has the NBA responded? In a memo to its 30 teams, it called for several reforms, such as curbing bets on certain aspects of a game. Most of all, it seeks to improve the education of players and other NBA personnel. That could be a big step for American athletics as more sports leagues now grapple with legalized betting – and with the tendency to see fans as valuable gamblers rather than as valued spectators. Until now, regulation and tight enforcement has been the default approach. Vast electronic systems are in place to catch cheating. Players are assumed to be prone to corruption. If the NBA now moves to enhance the moral dignity of players, enabling them to better resist gambling interests based on principles, that would be a mental sea change and perhaps better ensure the sport’s integrity. To a large degree, a sea change has already begun among the largest group of sports bettors – young men. Three years ago, 9% of men under age 30 placed an online sports wager. This year, the figure reached 21%, according to Pew Research Center. At the same time, Pew found that 47% of men under age 30 now say legal sports betting is a bad thing for society, up from 22% who said this in 2022. Attitudes toward gambling’s chief belief – luck – may be giving way to a return to the understanding that talent, inspiration, fair play, and hard work are the essence of sports, and essential to its survival. That turn of thought has already begun in international efforts to curb doping and other problems in athletics. In 2017, the International Association of Athletics Federations founded an “Integrity Unit” to create the “right frameworks for each and every athlete to succeed.” In 2014, the World Anti-Doping Agency began a global campaign called Play True to emphasize the benefits of clean sports to athletics. In addition, research in Europe has shown that providing a “values-based” education to athletes emphasizing that an individual’s principles can reverse moral disengagement from issues like doping. Perhaps that helps explain the theme of this year’s Play True campaign: “It Starts with You.”
