CV NEWS FEED // More than half of Americans think that betting on college sports should be illegal but approve of gambling on professional sports, according to a February poll.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll discovered that 55% of Americans say betting on college sports should be illegal in their state, while 58% said betting on professional sports should be legal.
According to AP News, sports betting is currently legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Missouri is slated to legalize the practice this year, thanks to a ballot measure approved during last November’s elections. However, regulations on sports betting vary by state.
The numbers from the 2025 poll closely match those from the same poll conducted in 2019, showing that Americans have not become more supportive of sports betting despite it becoming more widespread, AP News noted. The percentage of those who say they either frequently or occasionally bet on professional or college sports also went down from 36% to roughly 25% between 2019 and 2025.
Interviews conducted by AP News revealed that those who oppose legalizing betting on college sports are generally concerned about the pressure that gambling would place on college athletes, as well as the environment for dishonesty that gambling creates.
“I think once they get out of school — not that it couldn’t happen — they have more maturity to deal with all the pressures that go along with that,” Kansas resident Colleen Plowman told AP News.
California resident Jodie Campbell raised concerns about creating “a situation where there’s an opportunity for dishonesty, fraud or misconduct.”
“I’m just not a big fan of gambling and betting generally. If it was up to me, it would be great not to have any of that,” she said. “I prefer to keep it out of sports involving young people, like high school, college level.”
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