Doubling Down

It’s almost impossible to hear March without thinking Madness. Throughout America, the nickname for the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments has come to connotate upsets, buzzer beaters and, most certainly, betting.

Gambling on the tournaments once meant throwing a few bucks into a pool and filling out a bracket or wagering at a sports book in Nevada—or with a shady bookie just about anywhere else. But since the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that states could legalize sports gambling, you don’t even have to get out of bed to place a bet.

Now, anyone in the 38 states and District of Columbia where the practice is legal lives with a sports book—aka a phone—attached to their hip.

Last year, more than $2.72 billion was wagered on the men’s and women’s tournaments using legalized sports books, according to the American Gaming Association. That’s nearly twice as much as is legally wagered on the Super Bowl.

Responsible Gambling at TU

When Maryland okayed sports gambling in 2020, Emily Wiegand immediately recognized the risk it would present to college students.

[Young people] have a harder time slowing down and thinking through what the potential risks ... there’s the combination of impulsivity with invincibility, and that’s a perfect storm.

Emily Wiegand, assistant director for prevention at the Counseling Center

“Young people are in a higher risk category because of their brain development,” says Wiegand, assistant director for prevention at the Counseling Center. “They have a harder time slowing down and thinking through what the potential risks and consequences might be. And if there's a problem, if someone is engaging in this behavior out of a financial concern or another mental health concern, they're looking for a quick fix. So there’s the combination of impulsivity with invincibility, and that’s a perfect storm.”  

In 2022, right before mobile sports gambling in Maryland went live, she spearheaded TU’s successful effort to land a $40,000 grant from the The National Council on Problem Gambling to start Tigers Play Responsibly, the university’s revolutionary gambling prevention program.

“As part of our application, we did a pretty thorough search of campuses all across the country,” she says. “We couldn't find anyone who had a prevention program in place for this. That was our intention—to create a comprehensive prevention program that we could offer to the campus community.”

Tigers Play Responsibly

Tigers Play Responsibly trains student leaders about how to spot problem gambling in whatever form it exists and the steps to take if someone needs help. It also conducts print and digital marketing campaigns to raise awareness.

The signs can be tough recognize, Wiegand says, because they can be easier to hide than physical addictions to drugs or alcohol. If a student has a problem, they can come to the Counseling Center for a confidential, same-day appointment.

Increasing the ability to talk about problem gambling is important, Wiegand says. Since the program debuted, it has received lots of positive feedback.

“When we started this in the fall of 2022 before sports gambling went live, the response from students was mediocre at best because gambling wasn't really part of the thought process,” she says. “It was interesting to see what happened after sports betting went live. All of a sudden, students were like, ‘Oh, yeah. We're talking about this now.’”

That was our intention—to create a comprehensive prevention program that we could offer to the campus community.

Emily Wiegand

As part of the program, all student-athletes take an educational course prior to their freshman year. Although gambling on NCAA-sanctioned sports is against NCAA rules, it’s permissible for them to wager on things like NASCAR, mixed martial arts and horse racing. It’s a population that is especially at risk for several reasons, including athletes’ competitiveness.

“The idea of, ‘I want to win’ can factor in for sure,” says Nathan Wilder, TU’s senior associate athletic director, sports medicine and performance. “You can bet on anything in this world right now. It runs rampant. It’s one of those things that you think is no big deal, then all of a sudden you find yourself knee deep in it.”

Sports Gambling on Campus

Pat Coyle ’25 is a football player who heads TU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The education major says that while he doesn’t see widespread gambling among his fellow student-athletes, it is more common across the rest of the campus.

“It is definitely very popular in this age group because it’s something that’s new,” he says. “You turn 21, and now you’re allowed to do this thing that everyone wants to try. It’s like anything. It’s the next new thing that you’re allowed to do, so why not try it?”

Nearly 60% of Americans ages 18 to 22 have bet on sports.

Due to a high rate of underreporting, it’s difficult to gauge the scope of the problem. But an NCAA survey released in 2023 found that nearly 60% of Americans ages 18 to 22 have bet on sports and that almost 4% do daily. Nearly 6% reported losing more than $500 in one day. Another study, conducted at the University of Buffalo, found one in 10 college students is a pathological gambler, compared to the 2–5% of the general population that is estimated to have a gambling problem.

So, do Tigers Play Responsibly?

I love that gambling prevention has taken a front seat for college campuses because we’re raising awareness and education in an attempt to do something about it before it's too late.

Emily Wiegand

“Is there a positive impact? I think so,” Wiegand says. “If students think there's a chance to win a quick buck, some students will go for that. Others won't. So I think all of this work is worth doing and continuously looking at how we do the prevention, what gaps are there and where do we need to either heighten our efforts or change what we're doing. I have gotten calls from several universities asking for more information about our gambling prevention work, as they are now applying for the same grant that we initially received. I love that gambling prevention has taken a front seat for college campuses because we’re raising awareness and education in an attempt to do something about it before it's too late.”