By John Hilber / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

In the first two days after sports betting was legalized, Ohio saw over 11.3 million bets placed - nearly one for every Ohio resident, according to the Cincinnati Bar Association.

Within a year, Ohioans had bet $7.65 billion on sports.

Sports betting became legal in Ohio effective Jan. 1, 2023. Since then, sports betting has driven a significant increase in state tax revenue and sports viewership - along with reports of problem gambling, experts say.

"The number one driver [of legalizing sports gambling] is a tax revenue opportunity," said Stephen Shapiro, a professor in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina. "In states where it is not legal, it's illegal gambling, and the state is seeing no benefit from that. So that's revenue that did not exist before, and it could be used for a variety of benefits for the state."

In 2023, Ohio collected more than $936 million in tax revenue from sports betting. Gamblers have to pay a 10% tax on all winnings. According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, the state uses the taxes to fund different Gross Casino Revenue Funds and efforts to help with gambling problems.

Apps like FanDuel and DraftKings facilitate many sports bets in the 38 states that have legalized it. By using apps, gamblers aren't limited to traditional bets on the margin of victory or bets on who wins or loses outright - they have many options per sporting event, like multi-stage parlays, event-based bets and individual performance bets.

"Traditionally, someone could have bet on this game, and they watch the game in its entirety, and they win or lose based on the outcome and the score - it's one bet," Shapiro said. "Now, in this particular game, the Packers get the ball, and they drive down the field and score a touchdown, and there were 20 opportunities to bet during that one drive."

Gambling means more people watching sports, experts say

Now legal in most of the United States, sports betting has shown some benefits for professional sports leagues.

"People are definitely watching sports that they have not watched before due to gambling - there is no question about it," Shapiro said. "It leads to more consumption and consumption of sports that you're not typically watching."

That may be because gambling can heighten viewers' excitement.

"Gambling, for the most part, provides people with the opportunity to get excited because of the possibility of winning," said James Whelan, a research professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Memphis. "There are social reasons to gamble, but in the end, the idea of doing something risky is getting rewarded by winning money,"

Ted Baugh, the vice president of Corporate Partnerships and Premium Hospitality for the Cleveland Guardians, said Major League Baseball is trying to help everyone associated with the sport navigate legal gambling, including players and fans alike.

"It is constant education," he said. "It is constant reminding that it is legal, but don't be stupid. It is more about what is good for the fan and what is legal."

As gambling expands, so does problem gambling

According to Ohio for Responsible Gambling, the Problem Gambling Helpline in Ohio received 10,637 calls in 2023 compared to 6,835 in 2022.

"Everybody with a gambling problem comes at it a little differently," Whelan said. "For many of these people, there are other things going on in their life that also feed into why they may become overly involved in gambling, even though gambling is harmful to them."

Whelan encourages gamblers to monitor themselves by asking, in part: "When am I in harm's way? When am I getting hurt by this, and I need to back off?"

Whelan said the majority of people who want to control their gambling can benefit from cognitive-behavioral intervention treatments. Cognitive-behavioral therapy aims to change a patient's behavior by changing how the patient thinks about the actions.

"Have a good time, enjoy yourself, set limits and stick with them," Whelan said.


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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Women who recently graduated from college are earning significantly less than their male counterparts.

A new study revealed women from Pennsylvania and other states who earned bachelor's degrees within the past seven years earn an average of 18% less than similarly-educated men. Research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers found segregated work environments are the main reason for the disparity.

Mary Gatta, director of research and public policy for the association and co-author of the report, said the problem is so prevalent, job analysts gave it a formal title.

"Some of that, as we see in our survey, is attributed to men and women working in different industries and different types of work," Gatta explained. "We called it 'occupational sex segregation.'"

The Early Career Talent Survey interviewed 1,400 professionals who graduated between 2017 and 2023, including about 500 men and 900 women. It found the gap brings financial challenges for women, who are more likely to have student loans but are less confident of their ability to repay them.

Despite financial disparities, career satisfaction was similar between genders among early-career professionals. Both men and women share comparable views on the speed of their career progression, although they cited different factors affecting their advancement.

Gatta noted it can cause long-term problems.

"The pay gap continues as women continue in their careers, with less money they are paying into Social Security, it's less money they are putting into their retirement," Gatta emphasized. "It has immediate impacts around economic security but also economic security as we age."

Nearly three-quarters of men surveyed work for private-sector companies, while just over half of women do. It found 30% of women work for nonprofits, where compensation is typically lower than in private industries. Gatta argued women need to gain more opportunities to explore nontraditional roles.

"The importance of helping introduce women and men to atypical occupations is really important," Gatta stressed. "Introducing women to STEM at an early age, getting that career exploration, we know that is important in helping to break some of that."

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Groups opposed to NorthWestern Energy's latest rate-hike proposal plan to rally on Monday in Helena.

In an unusual move, the utility giant used a legal loophole to increase electric rates for its Montana customers without approval, just weeks before it was scheduled to argue for approval. Montana's Public Service Commission regulates utilities, including NorthWestern, which serves two-thirds of the state.

After the Public Service Commission failed to act within nine months of a request, NorthWestern announced a 17% rate increase, or more than $200 a year per customer.

Dick Maney, a resident of Butte, said while Montanans elect Public Service Commission members, he worries the commission is not always acting on the consumers' behalf.

"That is the problem," Maney asserted. "I don't think it has a lot to do with NorthWestern Energy. I think it has a lot to do with the regulators on the outside, not on the inside of the company."

The move follows a 28% rate increase in 2023 and precedes arguments starting Monday for another 20% increase. The Monday rally to oppose the hikes is being hosted by a coalition of groups: Montana Conservation Voters, Families for a Livable Climate, Forward Montana, Big Sky 55+, Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, Montana Sierra Club and Helena Interfaith Climate Advocates.

Maney noted the rate increases are troublesome on top of the many other increasing costs of living in the state. For example, the median residential property in 2023 saw a 21% higher tax bill than the previous year, according to the Montana Free Press.

"We have to deal with property taxes, which have increased substantially over the last couple of years and that is really affecting everyone," Maney pointed out. "An increase in electricity affects us a lot."

In the final days of the legislative session, state lawmakers passed property tax relief measures for most Montanans by raising taxes on second homes.


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A new Northwestern University study examining the history of labor laws for women says men ultimately benefited from laws meant to protect women in the workplace.

The study looks at protective labor policies across the history of the United States.

For about 60 years, those laws imposed restrictions on women's work.

Northwestern University Professor of Economics Matthias Doepke said the study questions whether these laws were genuinely put in place to protect women from harm.

"The main reason these laws were successful, indeed was less a need to protect women at work and more a need to protect men from competition," said Doepke, "because this happened when men and women were starting to increasingly compete for the same jobs."

Many old protective labor laws were eliminated alongside the rise of the Equal Rights Movement.

Doepke said the rise in gender equality was partly due to the alignment of men's and women's interests, influenced by factors like the increase of married women in the labor force, and a shared concern for children.

Doepke claimed that gender equality has historically correlated with economic growth. He said the female workforce rose in the mid-20th century, fostering support for increased opportunities for women and anti-discrimination laws.

However, he thinks this support may be weakening, due to falling marriage rates and differing views between men and women.

"Young women increasingly turn to the left and become more liberal," said Doepke. "Young men also used to be liberal, but they have started to turn further to the right. It's been talked about a lot, for example, in the recent presidential election -- that Trump had a lot of success with young men. And you can see this on particular issues such as gender equality."

Doepke added that recent legal changes and Supreme Court decisions also indicate a shift away from gender equality.