Why moral arguments against gambling have disappeared in recent years

[C C]

Why moral arguments against gambling have disappeared in recent years
https://kjzz.org/content/1675240/why-mor...cent-years

EXCERPTS (from interview): . . . What changed? [...] I think the lottery was a big part of it. As we had more and more states adopt lotteries, it was harder for states to argue against it on moral grounds...

[...] You know, it was maybe 10 years ago that ... the Convention and Visitors Authority wanted to buy an ad during the Super Bowl and the League [NFL] said no. And the ad wouldn't have mentioned gambling, just would have said, "Come to Las Vegas." And, you know, now there's an NFL team in Las Vegas.

The teams of the League are very comfortable partnering with gambling operators. So they've done a complete 180. So I think you see a lot of cases of that. ... It's definitely an evolution, you can see society becoming more open to gambling than it was once before. It's becoming much more mainstream... (MORE - details)

---

Online Betting Platform Esports Technologies Soars 500% at IPO
https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/04/1...ies-soars/

RELEASE: Esports Technologies (NASDAQ:EBET) debuted on the Nasdaq exchange today, and it immediately became apparent that the esports online betting platform left millions of dollars on the table with its initial public offering (IPO). Even though the IPO offer price was increased to the upper end of the expected range, or $6 per share, the stock immediately took off, opening at $21 and rocketing to over $36 at the close today, a cool 500% gain on its first day of trading.

Esports Technologies, which is focused on the growing esports and competitive-gaming phenomenon, increased the amount of stock it would sell from 2 million shares to 2.4 million shares. The expected price range had been between $5 to $6 a share, which itself was elevated from a previous estimate of $4.50 to $5.

While the stock made enormous gains, Esports Technologies is not the only player targeting the competitive-gaming market. Esports Entertainment Group (NASDAQ:GMBL) is aiming at the same demographic, and Skillz (NYSE:SKLZ) is a game developer that lets players compete for prizes. Esports Entertainment got its own boost recently after Citron Research said video game retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME) should buy it.

Yet because esports betting is seen as a massive opportunity, accounting for an estimated $1.8 billion of the $443 billion global gambling industry, there is a large runway for growth for all players. But that doesn't necessarily mean Esports Technologies deserved the meteoric rise its stock enjoyed upon its debut. It doesn't seem tethered to business fundamentals, and this esports stock could very quickly see the value of its shares deflate.

[Yazata]

Back in the early 1970's, I was a big Pete Rose fan. (Former player and manager of the Cincinatti Reds who still holds the MLB record for most base hits.) He was huge at the time, a national figure.

Then he was banned for life from baseball and from having any connection to baseball because he participated in sports betting. There's no evidence that he ever lost games on purpose or anything like that, he just bet on baseball games. Today everyone does it.

So... when is Pete going to be reinstated and allowed into the Hall of Fame where he belongs??

[Syne]

There's a significant difference between it being allowed and there being no existing moral arguments against it. Just look at MADD. Alcohol is legal, but there's still uses of it that are far from moral. Saying gambling is more accepted doesn't change the fact that someone who gambles away their life is still looked at as morally weak.