The legalisation of sports betting in the US in 2018 is not just affecting ordinary punters, it is also changing the behaviour of fund managers. So says a new study, Sports Betting Legalisation and Mutual Fund Managers Risk-Taking.
It finds that when individual states legalised sports betting, fund managers in that state tended to make riskier investments, leading to worse performance.
[ Cigars, booze, money: how a lobbying blitz made sports betting ubiquitous in the US ]
It’s not that ordinary investors were demanding this, with the study finding no evidence that investors were putting more money into risk-taking funds. Rather, it seems the fund managers themselves were more willing to take risks after sports betting was legalised in their state.
The change in social norms around gambling, the researchers suggest, made them more comfortable with taking risks in their professional lives.
Or, put another way, fund managers were not just placing bets on the weekend, they started rolling the dice at work, too.
- Sign up for Business push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our Inside Business podcast is published weekly – Find the latest episode here
