If you haven’t heard, Tuesday was election day. Multiple candidates with NFL connections lost.
In Nebraska, the sports books also lost.
Via Erin Bamer of the Nebraska Examiner, voters there rejected online sports betting.
The ballot initiative came after multiple efforts by gambling interests to legalize it through the legislative process, which has been successful in many other states.
The outcome in Nebraska raises an obvious question. How many states in which their elected representatives embraced sports betting would have rejected it, if the people had the right to vote on it?
For those charged with balancing the public budget, tax revenues from legalized sports betting become a siren’s song. And it results in plenty of citizens wrecking their own finances by chasing the false promise of easy money.
Earlier this year, Warren Buffett called sports betting a “tax on stupidity.” All gambling is, really. The system is designed to take your money, either quickly or slowly. Any wins will be outweighed over time by the losses.
If that wasn’t the case, the sports books wouldn’t be in business. And the states wouldn’t embrace the easy money that comes from aligning with the house and indirectly increasing the taxes of those who choose to participate.
Because the house always wins. Except in states where the people are given the chance to vote on whether the vampire will be invited onto their phones.