May 14, 2026
The sports landscape has changed.
May 14th is the eighth anniversary of the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision to legalize sports gambling and sports has certainly changed over that time. Thirty-nine states, Washington, D. C. and Puerto Rico have a variety of ways where a bet can be placed including at casinos, in sports venues or by mobile phones. Sports leagues and sports owners have embraced sports betting because the leagues and owners make money from sports gambling and also contend that more people are interested in their product as placing a bet or various bets or participating in prediction markets heightens their participation. Sports leagues and college organizations have had to deal with problems caused by athletes’ betting. Players have been permanently barred or are serving suspensions from sports gambling. Major League Baseball players Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz’s federal criminal trial for a pitch-rigging scheme is scheduled to begin with jury selection on November 2nd, 2026.
Not everyone is a fan of legalized sports gambling. Ninety-five-year-old Warren Buffett who was the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a company that has many businesses, until the end of 2025 had some harsh words about the sports gambling industry. “It’s a tax on stupidity,” Buffett said in an interview on CNBC. “To the extent that states raise money from people who the dollar really means something to them it actually relieves the taxes on me or other rich people. It’s not direct, but it’s the net effect. I don’t like things that make a sucker out of people. I don’t think the function of the government is to play its people for suckers.” Buffett does acknowledge that states are bringing in revenue from sports betting but gambling brings risks for people, especially those who have lost all of their money gambling. Sports gambling has changed the sports business and ruined some people’s lives.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
