A Rebuttal to a Recent Article Suggesting Sports Betting Shouldn’t Be Legalized

I was scouring the internet the other day and stumbled upon a recent article that angered me. I realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I’m also entitled to criticize that opinion. Here is the article from The Cavalier Daily, a University of Virginia student newspaper. The author, Sawan Patel, argues that sports betting shouldn’t be legalized because it’s “wrong and immoral”. Apparently, Mr. Patel believes he is the authority on what is and isn’t moral. I’m not sure who died and anointed him the judge of what is good and evil, however.

He also argues another stupid point about how legalized sports betting would “ruin sports”. And then to top off the stupidity, he claims legalized sports betting will create a “gateway drug” to later gambling addiction. I know what you’re thinking; is this guy for real? Yes, he is for real and, yes, he really is that dumb. His parents, somehow, failed miserably when raising him.

I’ve never met Sawan Patel. I hope to never meet him. He sounds like a very lame person that lacks intelligence, so I’m not sure he would be much fun to associate with. It’s so easy to make a fool of his ridiculous arguments, so let’s get started…

“Sports betting is wrong and immoral”

There’s nothing that irritates me more than someone that thinks they are the decider of what is and isn’t moral. Sports betting is immoral? According to whom? According to some nobody named Sawan Patel? Oh, well then I guess it is! Or not. Gambling has been a part of society for hundreds of years. There are thousands of casinos in the United States and thousands of online casinos. Millions of people around the world bet on sports and other forms of gambling. If your argument is that sports betting is immoral, that means most of us are “immoral”. Everyone except Sawan Patel, I suppose…

“The legalization of sports betting would lead to a reduced interest in sports by those that do not bet”

False. Absolutely false, and utterly ridiculous. How does actually legalizing sports betting impact how interested sports fans are about sports? Sports betting is already popular. Millions of people bet on sports. Nothing would change in terms of fan interest if sports betting became legalized throughout the United States. To think otherwise is just plain silly. This is a horrible argument. Clearly, this writer not only thinks he’s the judge of what is and isn’t moral, but he also lacks an ability to make a logical argument. You have a rough life ahead of you, Mr. Patel.

This is the same type of argument I heard from college football fans that refused to accept the necessity of a playoff system. They argued it would ruin the pageantry of college football. After one year of a playoff system, we’ve learned how utterly ridiculous that argument was, right? That was an exciting playoff and now most want to add on another round. Sometimes you don’t know just how great something is until you try it.

“Legalizing sports betting will create a ‘gateway drug’ to later gambling addiction”

Blaming anything for your problems is lame. Most sports bettors already partake in other forms of gambling. So why would things get worse if sports betting became legal nationwide? That doesn’t even make sense. Mr. Patel obviously is unaware there are thousands of casinos in the United States that have table games, slot machines, etc. Millions of people frequent casinos. And many of those people already bet on sports. I’m not sure what he’s trying to argue here but I know it’s dumb.