Hawaii to miss out on another year of Super Bowl betting

Some 50.4m Americans are prepared to make a bet on Super Bowl LVII, and many already have. Hawaiian residents though will have to give the upcoming event a pass, at least from a betting point of view.

Not that anything could have changed in the short interim between a Wednesday vote and Sunday, when the game is taking place, but hopes that Hawaii could be on track to wager on the Big Game before long were dashed once again this week after a proposal was voted against – including from people who have been seen as natural allies of sports betting legalization in the Aloha State.

Disappointingly, Rep. Daniel Holt, who pitched a solution about gambling regulation in Hawaii of his own, pulled the trigger and recommended the House Economic Development Committee to end the current legislative attempt, Hawaii News Now reported. He was backed by the majority of his colleagues, including Rep. Elijah Pierick who is one of the biggest sceptics about the legalization of sports gambling in the state.

According to Pierick, regardless of the nature of sports gambling, the activity is harmful to consumers and participants as most people will inevitably lose their wagers. The lack of concrete numbers was another reason why scepticism persisted during the latest attempt to pass meaningful legislation.

Even the for-camp couldn’t deliver sufficient data and prove beyond doubt that Hawaii is suffering from illegal gambling – something that simple extrapolation could in fact prove. However, extrapolation was not good enough for legislators this week. Pat Gibbs who lobbies on behalf of the Sports Betting Alliance insists that there is an estimated 276,000 people who are betting around $670m in total money on sports. They do so illegally, Gibbs assured.

While citing Ernst and Young study data, he admitted that the data was based on extrapolation models and wasn’t specifically taken from Hawaii – something that was not met with approval from the lawmakers.

Pierick questioned sports gambling and insisted that the activity leads to harm, but he was met with opposition from DraftKings representative Rebecca London who assured that her company, and other regulated entities, leverage advanced responsible gambling tools to detect and even prevent harm.

These assurances though were to no avail as the Committee ultimately chose not to move on with the bill for a full floor voting. Hawaii has most likely lost its chances to push through with legislation of its gambling activity this year as a result.

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