How Do You Feel About Legal Sports Betting in Montana?

How do you feel about sports betting?  Legal sports betting, I mean.

A quick overview

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on betting on sports.

As a result of that, sports betting was made legal in 2019 here in Montana, but only if you do it through Sports Bet Montana, which is run by the state lottery.

Therefore, placing bets through other betting services, like DraftKings and BetMGM, are not legal in Montana.

So why are we talking sports betting?

The results of a poll conducted earlier this year by NBC show that large numbers of Americans (or at least a large number of the participants in the poll) are concerned about the consequences of betting on sports being legal.

The specific language is that 70% of the people who took part in the survey said they agree to some degree that betting on sports "lessens the integrity of the game".

A similarly high percentage expressed concern that allowing sports betting means an increase in the chances of a given game being rigged or fixed.

And I can understand that.  Those are perfectly valid concerns, especially in light of the fact that the various forms of legal sports betting raked in a combined almost $14 billion in 2024 in the US.  So yes, the temptation is real.

Some of the other results from the survey

When the demographic data was broken down, it was determined that the more highly educated a person was, the more likely they were to agree with those statements.

It was also found that men were more likely to agree with those statements compared to women.

Despite the fears and concerns raised, two thirds of the people who took part in the poll still said that people should be allowed to do what they want with their money, even if it's gambling on sports.

So what are your thoughts?