Research suggests violent behavior spikes around sports games due to betting

• New research from Texas’ Rice University points out that game days are tied to more crime
• This is not necessarily because people are driven by financial motivation - i.e., robberies and thefts, but could be a result of stress due to games that turned out badly
• A "spillover" effect is identified in states that host sports gambling, with neighboring states also impacted by the "game day" spike in violence and crimes

New research by Rice University in Texas suggests that sports betting may be tied to higher criminal activity around sports events.

According to the university, which published its findings, the overturning of PASPA in 2018 has driven billions of revenue nationwide, but this has come with some presumed adverse effects.

Violent and impulsive crimes usually increase around game days in states that have legalized sports gambling, the authors claim, further adding that neighboring states may also be impacted by this phenomenon, and posing interesting questions about how gambling impacts social behavior.

Violent behavior observed due to game day-related stress

Hua Gong, assistant professor of sport analytics at Rice University, has said that this was the main surprise from the research - that sports betting legalization does not drive this type of criminal behavior just in areas and states that have legalized the activity, but similarly has a "spillover" effect that affects neighbors, as well.

Gong is joined by Wenche Wang, a colleague who helped him analyze the data the duo used, citing incidents between 2017 and 2021.

"Even neighboring states that do not allow betting see more crime on game days, likely because people travel to place bets and then return home," Gong explained. However, the reason behind this behavior seems not always to be financially related, as the games themselves become more stressful.

"It is also worth noting that aggression may not stem solely from financial stress, as often observed in other forms of betting. We find recent evidence of increased crime associated with stressful games, such as those with close or tied scores throughout, as well as games that extend into overtime," Wang added.

Behavior is not limited to states that legalize gambling, but others as well

The main driver of criminal activity, though, is aggression - as people get worked up over games and stress, they are more likely to commit an act of violence, the study suggests. To help put things in perspective, the researchers were able to point out specific spikes in criminal and violent behavior.

According to the findings, crime spikes by 30-70% from the start through several hours after it has concluded. Assaults see the biggest jump - 93%, especially if a home team game doesn’t go to plan, pointing to the emotional factors behind violent behavior.

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