Study: States That Ban Gambling Lose Revenue

Even small countries that ban gambling can lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue each year, as a study published this week in Israel has shown.

Betting: Boost for economy

Legalizing just half of Israel's illegal gambling on sporting events would be worth NIS 1.2 billion ($300 million) in taxes, according to a new study on sports betting. The study estimated that NIS 12.5 billion is spent each year on sports betting, of which around NIS 11 billion is conducted illegally.

The study, produced by two Israeli economists, concludes that lack of legal sports betting in essence harms gamblers and sports associations. It recommends that regulating these activities would hurt criminal groups that use illegal gambling to generate earnings, as well as reduce attempts at match fixing.

Cleaning up sports

Online betting was worth an estimated $51 billion in 2012. Yet somehow many countries - including the United States - still enforce bans, failing to understand that by regulating the practice they would actually encourage responsible gambling and simultaneously boost their own flagging revenues.

In fact, the International Monetary Fund estimates that illegal gambling activities bring in $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion a year, accounting for 2-5% of the world's gross national product and about 10% of world trade.