Sports betting meets the classroom
Gambling is rapidly becoming a dominant force in the sports world, as it’s transforming how fans engage with games. Professor of Economics Eric Dunaway brings a unique passion for sports gambling into the classroom, while blending it with the principles of a liberal arts education.
Professor Dunaway’s approach allows students to explore the concepts of economics through real-world applications, one being the decision-making processes behind sports betting. By incorporating this topic into his lessons, he allows his students to analyze risks and understand the economic implications of the sports industry. To Dunaway, the concept of gambling itself is fascinating.
“The probability that any sporting events go any way is truly unknowable,” said Dunaway. “Sports don’t exactly behave with how we understand statistics and probability, so that’s where my interest comes in.”
Because of these senses of uncertainty and randomness, Dunaway wants to make sure his students and all Wabash men who choose to gamble know what they’re getting into.
“I won’t ever say to not bet, but I’ll teach them how it works, because there are ways that these sports betting apps and processes are taking advantage of Wabash students,” said Dunaway. “What I can do in liberal arts education is arm you with the knowledge and help you make better decisions because of that.”
“I learned a lot about sports betting from Dr. Dunaway’s talk last year,” said Justin Santiago ’25, a financial economics major. “He explained how sportsbooks use lines that seem enticing to us but will result in them consistently making money in the long run. It was interesting to see which types of bets actually have the better payoffs as well as hear about the growing risks gambling poses on college campuses.”
Even though students can form accurate beliefs and predictions for a given sports event, the profitability of the gambling industry is greater than the average person may think.
“Last year, the entire NFL revenue was around $14 billion for all NFL teams, but the sports betting revenue was $13 billion,” said Dunaway. “I bet this year or next year, we’re going to be in a world where sports betting is bringing in more revenue than all professional sports combined. This is why we should be talking about this.”
Fortunately, the future of Wabash students is in good hands, as there’s optimism of new opportunities as soon as spring of 2025 to learn more about gambling and how it can impact our view of the topic.
“A dream for me is to have an economics of gambling course,” said Dunaway. “We would dive into casino games, sports betting, then poker and cover the economic ideas behind these.”
Coupling this new course idea with the incorporations he’s already made, Dunaway will remain dedicated to guide our students to make the right and responsible decisions.