Kansas and Missouri earned failing grades and ranked among the worst states in the country when it comes to protecting online sports gamblers, according to a new report.
The states’ constant access to online betting, their lack of addiction and bankruptcy prevention protections and their failure to set loss limits were some of the reasons the nonprofit Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research gave both states failing grades in its March 4 report cards.
Missouri and Kansas were not alone. The only states earning A’s in the center’s assessment report were states that haven’t made online betting legal. Each of the 38 states that have legalized sports betting earned D’s or F’s. Missouri and Kansas tied for 36th in the state rankings.
Nicholas Reville, executive director of the center, said no state that has legalized online betting has done so with enough protections for the people using betting apps.
“If you’re serving someone alcohol and they show signs of intoxication, it becomes illegal to keep serving them,” Reville said. “But states are allowing online gambling companies to continue serving online bets when someone is clearly showing traits of problem gambling.”
The lack of protections along with the easy access and highly addictive nature of online betting apps have been a dangerous combination, Reville said. The center estimates that half of American men have a sports gambling account.
Public health experts warn sports betting apps trigger the same part of the brain as heroin and can easily lead to addictive behavior. Problem gambling is also linked to increased rates of suicide.
In a February report, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles found that the likelihood of personal bankruptcy rose 25% to 30% in the years after a state legalized online sports gambling. The study also found an 8% jump in average debt collection, a 2% decline in credit scores and an 8% increase in credit card and car loan delinquencies.
“Having it at your fingertips, in your pocket 24/7,” Reville said, “makes for an extremely addictive product.”
Kansans have been able to bet on sports online since September 2022. Missourians gained legal access in their state in December. In January, Missouri reported $385.1 million in sports wagers. The same month, Kansas sportsbooks processed $227.3 million in wagers.
The Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research is calling on state and federal policymakers to implement changes that could reduce harm. They include:
- Implementing mandatory loss limits that cap how much a user can lose each day, week or month. Reville suggested a $500 monthly limit.
- Enacting bans on credit card deposits, including indirect methods, to stop gamblers from betting borrowed money.
- Requiring operators to intervene when users show high-risk behaviors.
- Restricting in-game live betting and prop bets, which allow gamblers to risk money repeatedly while watching games.
- Setting higher tax rates that “reflect the true public cost of gambling and reduce operator incentives to maximize addictive engagement.”
- Removing gambling apps from mobile app stores and eliminating push notifications and one-tap access.
Both Kansas and Missouri allow sports gambling on apps 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But neither state offers addiction or bankruptcy prevention protections and other guardrails like restricting advertising and requiring a spouse to consent before a joint bank account is used for gambling.
The states also lost points in the assessment for failing to take steps to stop prediction markets like Kalshi, which let people essentially bet on the outcome of almost anything, from sports to wars.
Missouri and Kansas received credit, however, for having problem gambling hotlines, funding for problem gambling messaging and self-exclusion lists. But the report said those efforts would have limited effects in dissuading someone who has a gambling addiction.
Keith Spare, chair of the Kansas City Port Authority Problem Gambling Fund Advisory Committee, said he is not surprised to learn that Missouri ranked poorly in the report. From the state lottery to riverboat casinos, the state’s commitment to addressing and preventing problem gambling has long been lacking, he said.
Right now, he is concerned about when promised sports betting tax revenues will begin flowing into a Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund, as required in the constitutional amendment that Missouri voters passed to legalize sports betting.
The taxes collected through betting apps are to be first used to cover the Missouri Gaming Commission’s regulatory expenses. After that, $5 million or 10%, whichever is greater, must go into the fund. The remaining taxes collected from sports gambling are designated for K-12 and higher education. The state estimates it will collect a total of $28 million annually in taxes.
Spare said he is concerned that as sports betting is taking off, drawing in many new gamblers, the help people may need won’t be available.
“We may not have any (money going) to problem gambling programs until next fiscal year, which is pretty insane,” Spare said. “It’s like putting up a minefield, but you don’t put up any (warning) signs until a year from now.”
The Missouri Gaming Commission could not be reached for comment about the status of the fund.
Spare said it is also unclear how the money will be used once it reaches the problem gambling fund. He is hoping it will pay for problem gambling treatment programs specifically and advertising about Gamblers Anonymous, which helps people recover from the addiction. Putting the funds toward general addiction programs rather than problem gambling treatments won’t work, he said.
“The reality is, problem gambling is a very different addiction,” he said.
The center’s report also faults Missouri and Kansas, along with many other states, for not taxing online gambling companies enough. Both states tax sports betting operators 10%. Charging higher taxes, Reville argued, would mean more money staying in the states and less money for companies to use on ads designed to entice more people to gamble.
Although states have been told they will pull in new tax dollars by legalizing sports betting, in reality they are often losing more. Not only do losing bets leave the local economy, potential spending also doesn’t happen. The report estimates that Kansas has an “annual net outflow” of more than $111 million.
“If they lost $5,000 to Draft Kings, they’re not going out to eat,” Reville said. “They’re not remodeling their home. They’re not doing things in the local economy.”
This story was first published by the Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
