Sports Betting Legalization Amplifies Emotional Cues and Intimate Partner Violence
Abstract
Abstract This study explores the relationship between legalized sports gambling, unexpected emotional cues stemming from NFL home team upset losses and reported intimate partner violence (IPV). Using 1995–2022 crime data from NIBRS, replicating and extending Card and Dahl (2011)’s model, we find that legalized gambling increases the impact of upset losses on IPV by 10 percentage points. The e!ect is larger in states with mobile betting, where higher bets were placed, around paydays, and for teams on a winning streak. These results suggest that financial losses from gambling amplify emotional reactions to unexpected team losses.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Gambling Behavior and Treatments
Sports Analytics and Performance
Sport Psychology and Performance
Publication details
- Journal / source
- The Review of Economics and Statistics
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Pages
- 1–39
- Publication date
- 14 May 2026
- Language
- EN