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For immediate release: Wednesday, November 2, 2016                       6 pp.

Contact:  Krista Jenkins; kjenkins@fdu.edu [redacted]

Donald Hoover; dhoover@fdu.edu [redacted]

More Americans Bet on Legalizing Sports Wagering than Oppose It

Fairleigh Dickinson University, November 2, 2016 – Americans love to watch sports, and the latest national survey from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds that more of them support, rather than oppose, extending legal wagering on games beyond the handful of states that now allow it. Just under half of those polled – 48 percent – favor changing federal laws so all states could legalize sports betting, compared to 39 percent opposed.

These numbers are largely unchanged from when a similar question was asked in 2012, when 51 percent said they believed the federal government should allow more states into the sports betting world and 33 percent supported maintaining the status quo. Today’s level of support remains above what was observed in 2010, when just 39 percent supported legalizing sports wagering.

“With the World Series almost behind us, and the NFL and NBA seasons underway, Americans will be doing a lot of betting. Many would enjoy the opportunity to wager in places other than office pools and among friends,” said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of PublicMind.

Support is the strongest among younger Americans with 60 percent of the under 35 crowd favoring a change in the laws. Not surprisingly, eight in ten of those who have bet on sports informally in the past 12 months are also in favor.

The same survey asked those who are in favor or who are opposed to changing the laws why they feel the way they do. Among those in favor, the two biggest reasons given acknowledge the fact that people are already doing it (45%) and that legalized sports betting would result in increased revenue for the state (39%).

“Betting on sports does not have an access issue for anyone in the United States. Most of the sports betting in the U.S. is fairly easy to do but happens in the shadows and in violation of federal law,” noted Donald Hoover, Senior Lecturer at the International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Those who are opposed are decidedly more concerned about fostering gambling addiction (55%) than they are for other reasons (opening the door for organized crime – 22%; changing the perception that the game or event is fair – 16%).

“The public is divided on this issue, and it looks like the reasons behind the division stem from the age old difficulty of reconciling the competing pulls of money and morality. People are clearly worried about the effects of gambling on individuals and their families, but also aware of the benefits that come from more money for the state from something that people are already doing,” said Jenkins.

Although people are more supportive of legalized sports betting, they don’t necessarily want more casinos to allow such behavior. By a decisive margin, 68 percent say the U.S. has enough casinos, compared to 16 percent who want fewer casinos and 11 percent who want more. Opinion is fairly universal across demographic categories, with slight differences among those who have bet on sports or visited a casino recently. Those two groups express more support relative to others for additional casinos, although they too are largely satisfied with the number now available.

“With an overwhelming number who believe there are enough casinos, we may have reached a saturation point for casino expansion in the United States,” said Jenkins.

Methodology, questions, and tables on the web at: http://publicmind.fdu.edu

Radio actualities at [redacted]                For more information, please call [redacted]

Methodology - The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone September 28-October 2, 2016 among a random national sample of 1019 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.8 percentage points, including the design effect.

Survey results are also subject to non-sampling error. This kind of error, which cannot be measured, arises from a number of factors including, but not limited to, non-response (eligible individuals refusing to be interviewed), question wording, the order in which questions are asked, and variations among interviewers.

Interviews were conducted by SSRS of Media, Pennsylvania, with professionally trained interviewers using a CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) system. Random selection is achieved by computerized random-digit dialing. This technique gives every person with a landline or cellular phone number (including those with unlisted numbers) an equal chance of being selected.

The total combined sample is mathematically weighted to match known demographics of age, sex, race, and education. 410 interviews were conducted on landlines and 609 were conducted on cellular telephones.

The sample was purchased from Marketing Systems Group and the research was funded by Fairleigh Dickinson University.

PublicMind recently received an “A” rating from statistician Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight blog. The ratings measure both accuracy and bias for all major polling services in the United States, providing an update to similar research the poll watchers conducted in 2014. PublicMind’s “A” rating puts it in the top 14 of the more than 380 polling institutes reviewed and graded from A+ through F PublicMind was found to have a 94 percent accuracy rate for predicting election results, and is one of only two A-rated polling institutes with zero bias to their rankings.

Tables

Question wording and order:

ELEC1 through ELEC6 released October 5, 2016

CON1 through CON9 released October 11, 2016

GAME1 through GAME3 withheld for subsequent release

GAME4            Currently, betting on sports – like football and basketball games – is legal only in Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana. Do you favor or oppose [rotate] changing the law to allow people to place bets on sports in all states?

1          Support                        [Ask GAME6]

2          Oppose                        [Ask GAME5]

8          DK (vol)

9          Refused (vol)

GAME5            Which of the following reasons best explains why you oppose making sports betting legal in all states? (READ LIST)

1          Promotes gambling addiction

2          Opens the door for organized crime

3          Changes the expectation that the event or game is fair

5          Other (vol)

8          DK (vol)

9          Refused (vol)

GAME6            Which of the following best explains why you favor making sports betting legal in all states? (READ LIST)

1          More tax revenue for the states

2          People are already betting illegally

3          Will make sports more exciting

5          Other (vol)

8          DK (vol)

9          Refused (vol)

GAME7            Which of the following best describes your feelings about the availability of casinos in the United States today?

1          There should be MORE casinos

2          There should be FEWER casinos

3          There are enough casinos

8          DK (vol)

9          Refused (vol)

Weighted Sample Characteristics