EDITORIAL: End betting prohibition
Remember the great era of Prohibition in the United States, from 1920 through 1933? That worked out really well, didn't it? It didn't create a black market, right? It didn't cause government to lose valuable tax revenue, particularly during the Great Depression, right?
Not exactly. These days, the prohibition on sports betting — outside of Nevada, at any rate — isn't working any better.
As reported by ESPN's Outside the Lines last month, nearly $3 million transferred from golfer Phil Mickelson to an intermediary was part of "an illegal gambling operation which accepted and placed bets on sporting events," according to two sources and court documents. Mr. Mickelson has not been charged, nor is he under investigation. But a 56-year-old former handicapper, acting as a conduit for an offshore gambling operation, pleaded guilty to laundering approximately $2.75 million that two sources told Outside the Lines belonged to Mr. Mickelson.
It sounds like a juicy story, but it shouldn't be. Mr. Mickelson hasn't hid his affinity for sports betting, and with his income, he could come to Las Vegas anytime — and he often does. But that's not always possible due to his schedule, nor in this age should it be required.
Hundreds of billions of dollars in illegal wagers are made each year — meaning many billions are lost in potential federal, state and local revenue — due to ridiculously outdated regulations in the United States. It shows how the criminalization of sports betting is one of the dumbest policies we have. Prohibition does nothing to stop betting.
Government officials and sports leagues need to stop thinking they've got any chance of policing illegal sports betting, and instead get behind allowing legal, regulated sports betting across the country. Prohibition didn't work in the 1920s, and it's not working now.
