Scare Tactics

I’ve taken to referring to the gambling black market as a bogeyman, a convenient threat unleashed whenever policies are considered that the industry disagrees with.

In my previous column, The Black Market Persists, I focused on the reasons people choose the black market and the extraordinary challenge of stamping it out. Today, I will examine why scaremongering references to the black market do not resonate.

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Put Up Or Shut Up

In Reservoir Dogs, Mr. Blonde asks Mr. White, “Are you going to bark all day, little doggie, or are you going to bite?”

There is a growing Mr. Blonde attitude toward the black market scaremongering, as the following tweets from industry observers Jessica Welman and Richard Schuetz indicate:

As I wrote in my previous column, “Lawmakers, regulators, and the public are constantly warned about its presence, the harm it causes, and the siren song it uses to lure bettors offshore.”

But where is the evidence that a state that disallows betting on in-state colleges is driving droves of bettors offshore?

We all know the black market is a real problem, but the only way to eliminate it is for the regulated industry to become it, which is an impossibility; that’s why it’s the legal, regulated market.

Or, as I wrote more recently, “The black market bogeyman is a convenient excuse for industry-friendly policies. But, I’d argue certain bettors are never shifting to regulated markets.”

I’m focusing a lot on sportsbooks using the black market as a scare tactic, but it’s also a talking point you’ll hear from bettors, affiliates, and even lawmakers. But because Substack has email length limits, we won’t be going there today. Today is for the industry.