Betting in Florida raises concerns of fixed sports events

• A new poll examined the opinions of residents in Florida about the impact of legal wagering on sports events
• Concerningly, an overwhelming majority of 82% of the respondents admitted they question whether players or referees are influenced by "gambling interests"
• Only 46% of the residents support the implementation of limits on betting

Since 2018, when PASPA was struck down, the expansion of sports betting across the United States has begun.

Considering that betting is legal in 40 US states, it is clear that the activity is here to stay.

Yet, several match-fixing scandals raise concerns about the impact of betting on professional sports.

As it turns out, a new poll examines the opinion of Florida residents and half of them agree that sporting events may be affected by legal betting.

More than half of the respondents question the integrity of sports events

As announced by Florida Politics, a new poll by the University of North Florida's Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) and Sports Impact Jax (SIJ), looked into the opinions of Floridians about sports wagering and how the activity affects sports.

The poll was conducted between January 30 and February 3, 2026, and analyzed the opinion of 823 registered Florida voters.

Concerningly, more than half of the respondents admitted they believe players or referees fix sports competitions in order to meet certain betting lines.

The report reads: "An overwhelming majority (82%) of respondents agree (either strongly or somewhat) with the statement, 'because of increased betting, I sometimes question whether player or referee decisions are influenced by gambling interests.'"

The opinion is shared across different groups, including bettors, non-bettors, people who watch sports and respondents who do not watch sports.

Interestingly, half of the residents, regardless of their party affiliation, agree that referees or players fix sports tournaments for betting purposes.

Most concerns are the Democrats, of which 56% agree with that decision, while 51% of the Republicans and 50% of the respondents with no party affiliation agree with the statement as well.

Concerningly, an overwhelming majority of the respondents agree that the expansion of sports betting made them more likely to doubt the integrity of sports events.

Some 61% of the respondents agreed that they are questioning whether games are fixed.

Despite the concerns about the potential impact of sports wagering, less than half of the Floridians support limits for online sports betting.

Some 46% of the poll respondents agreed with enforcing limits to wagering.

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