Editor's note: This story has been updated to align with 5 On Your Side's editorial standards. Statistics previously cited in this story were inaccurate or incomplete.
ST. LOUIS — Legal sports betting in Missouri could soon be a reality after all of Missouri's major league sports teams announced they'd be forming an initiative petition to get the proposal on state ballots.
Sports betting, however, tends to play on the worst aspects of gambling addiction, according to St. Louis University Psychologist Jeremiah Weinstock.
So-called "risk-free" bets, when companies tell new bettors they will refund their first few lost bets, are often used to hook individuals into the dopamine rush of betting. Bettors' ability to bet anywhere from a phone sets up a dangerous combination for those facing gambling addiction, Weinstock said.
"[Risk-free bets] frequently can be a lure or a sort of queue to come back as people bounce from one app to another app, back and forth, looking for deals they can get," said Weinstock, who has published numerous research articles on the psychology behind gambling addiction. "Accessibility is also a key component to developing any addiction, including gambling ... [mobile betting] is harder to stop versus a land-based casino where you have to get in and drive. Placing a mobile bet takes, what, 20 seconds?"
Weinstock said if Missouri saw a gambling addiction spike after sports betting legalization, the state would be unprepared to deal with it. Missouri is one the lowest funders of gambling addiction resources in the nation, spending just two cents per capita compared to the national average of 37 cents per capita, according to a national survey.
On top of the lack of funding, Weinstock said Missouri's outdated system to address gambling addiction is hard to navigate for medical providers and doesn't incentivize the creation of more services.
"Even though we only spend two cents per capita, if you actually look at what Missouri spends dollars-wise, providers return money to [the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services] every year," Weinstock said. "They're not even spending it all."
Other states like Illinois and California have more robust funding and resources to combat gambling addiction, like having a large portion of gambling revenue go toward gambling addiction resources or allowing numerous medical providers to treat gambling addiction. That's not the case in Missouri.
Jack Cardetti, the spokesperson for the Missouri sports team coalition's campaign called "Winning for Missouri Education," said the teams have worked with the National Council on Problem Gaming to devise best practices for legal sports betting's implementation.
"When putting the ballot initiative together we incorporated feedback and comments from the National Council on Problem Gaming," Cardetti said. "Also, the initiative would require a minimum of $5 million per year in additional funding for problem gaming."
If the teams do succeed in their push for sports betting legalization, Weinstock hopes Missouri can learn from other states and use a large chunk of sports betting revenue toward gambling addiction services, resources and research.
"Overall, we know that people ... with depression, anxiety, any sort of trauma history, are at increased risk of gambling addiction," Weinstock said. "Hopefully, the law would continue to set aside more money for gambling addiction treatment."
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