The Impact of Legalized Sports Betting on Aggression

Following the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association , several states have legalized sport betting. Engaging in betting may lead to increased alcohol consumption, weapon-carrying, and violent crimes, further compounding the already recognized issues of fan aggression associated with sporting events. In this study, we employ a difference-in-differences design to examine the impact of legalized sports betting on crime using incident data from 2017 to 2021. We identify an increase in crimes from the start of a game to four hours after its conclusion in states that recently introduced a legal sports betting market, with significant spillover effects extending to neighboring states without legal sports betting markets. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, betting-related aggression in early adopting states was primarily stemmed from emotional cues related to financial loss; non-finance-related emotional cues also played a role post-pandemic. Our findings underscore the need for proactive policy to mitigate negative effects associated with sports betting amidst its rapid expansion.