Ole miss out on Announces College Gambling Center As Concerns Rise Over

The University of Mississippi on Monday announced the upcoming launch of its new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which scientists explain as the "very first of its kind in the country" in the middle of rising nationwide concern about banking on college sports.


The center was approved by the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees in February and will cost about $700,000 a year. It was developed to study the "heightened risks" for college students and student athletes brought on by the fast growth of legalized sports wagering and online gambling, its creators said. Researchers stated the center will now begin working with personnel.


IHL ´ s approval of the center follows the release of study results by University of Mississippi scientists showing that 39% of Mississippi university student gambled in a range of formats in the past year. Of those who took part in sports betting, 6% of Mississippi university student met criteria for issue betting as specified by the American Psychiatric Association.


"We actually believe that this is an issue that impacts Mississippi at large," Hannah Allen-King, executive director of the university ´ s William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant professor of public health, stated in a press release. "And so, we ´ re attempting to deal with our legislators as they dispute policy modification around gaming in the state."


Commercial sports betting was successfully prohibited with a few exceptions until 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 1992 prohibition. Mississippi allows sports wagering now, however just inside casinos.


After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court choice, sports betting business introduced a full-court press lobbying project to bring sports betting to 10s of millions of mobile phones around the nation, an effort reported to be the fastest expansion of legalized gaming in American history.