Dr. Patrick Kelly has spent most of his professional career educating people about the risks of gambling. His involvement started with a focus on casino addiction and workplace theft in Connecticut, but Kelly has now launched a first-of-its-kind course at Providence College entitled “Sports Betting, Problem Gambling, and Financial Wellness.”
“I never worried about people in the younger generation going to a casino and feeding a slot machine for four hours,” Kelly told CasinoBeats in an exclusive interview. “I was worried about them to the extent that slot machines were starting to look like video games. I was getting concerned about that.
“But what’s really opened up Pandora’s box is sports betting on mobile devices. It’s 24/7, and it’s in your pocket.”
Rhode Island is one of five states (along with the District of Columbia) that offer legal sports betting to those 18 and older, setting the potential for increased levels of sports betting addiction. It was one of the factors that compelled Kelly to teach the course at Providence.
The state-run Sportsbook Rhode Island is the only online betting platform available, but that doesn’t stop students from being barraged by ads from major US sportsbooks.
“Up here in New England, I can’t compete with FanDuel, and I can’t compete with DraftKings,” Kelly said. “But what I can do is educate my students, so that they understand the risks, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Unique Course Offering Comes During Pivotal Time
Kelly, a retired Coast Guard commander turned accounting professor, set a limit of 25 students for his class.
It started back in January and coincided with the launch of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling by author Danny Funt, who previously shared his story with CasinoBeats.
“This is the first course I’ve ever had where I used a book that was so current that it came out on the first day of the class,” Kelly said. “I used his book, which was really good.”
Kelly’s class consists of 24 male students and one lone female. Despite that disparity, he sees the gender gap closing when it comes to problem gambling.
“We need to understand that women — and especially women who may be former athletes and very competitive — are also going to be inclined to sports betting, and they have some of the same risks that men do,” he said.
Regardless of gender, Kelly’s course description outlines the goals for all students:
This course provides an in-depth exploration of the growing phenomenon of sports betting in the United States, examining its intersection with problem gambling and financial literacy. Students will analyze the economic, psychological, and social impacts of gambling, with a strong emphasis on developing critical thinking skills, ethical reasoning, and responsible decision-making. The course will integrate practical financial wellness strategies and equip students to assess risk, understand regulatory environments, and promote healthy behaviors within themselves and their communities.
Prediction Markets: ‘Full-Blown Crisis’ Looms for Sports Betting
One of Kelly’s students recently showed him how similar DraftKings Sportsbook and DraftKings Predictions appeared on his phone.
Kelly didn’t mince words when asked about his level of concern regarding the meteoric rise of prediction markets.
“Right now, I think we’re bordering on a crisis, and that will push us into a full-blown crisis across the country,” Kelly said. “You’re going to have sports betting across the country with the sports betting age of 18. That is very concerning.”
He added, “If you were trying to set up a crisis for young people who are engaging in sports betting, I think you would probably do something like that. I think it’s a huge problem on the horizon. Prediction markets are just going to result in many more tragic situations.”
Fighting the Good Fight
On multiple occasions, Kelly mentions “tragic situations” from sports betting addictions and believes his mission is to prevent as many of them as possible.
“I’m just trying to prevent tragic situations because out of all the addictions, the highest incidence of suicide has to do with gambling addiction,” he said.
In addition to the curriculum, Kelly has guest speakers tell real-world tales of gambling harm. A reformed casino addict shared his personal story of recovery, something Kelly characterized as “powerful.”
Brianne Doura-Schawohl, former legislative director for the National Council on Problem Gambling and current lobbyist, spoke on problem and responsible gambling policy.
Kelly also leads problem gambling panels at Providence after a significant turnout for the first event earlier this month.
“I figured it would be 30 or 40 students maybe,” he said. “We had 150 show up, and I had a fire code violation.”
While Kelly’s role is educating, Providence has two certified problem gambling counselors on hand to help those in need. One of them also served as a guest speaker on treatment and recovery.
“If you have a gambling problem at Providence College, what we try to do is make sure the students are aware that if you or somebody you know has a gambling problem, the place for you to go is our counseling center, and they can help you,” he said.
Kelly’s course is a special topics class. As such, he can do it twice more in spring semesters before applying for curriculum approval. He relayed the story of a student well-versed in sports betting, who said the class should be offered at every college in the country.
“What’s the common-sense way to approach this in terms of trying to minimize harm?” Kelly said. “You’re not going to prohibit or get rid of sports betting. I want them to understand the whole sports betting landscape, and that’s what we’ve been able to do in this class.”
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Dr. Patrick Kelly has spent most of his professional career educating people about the risks of gambling. His involvement started with a focus on casino addiction and workplace theft in Connecticut, but Kelly has now launched a first-of-its-kind course at Providence College entitled “Sports Betting, Problem Gambling, and Financial Wellness.” “I never worried about people
The post Providence College Course Combats Sports Betting Risks as ‘Full-Blown Crisis’ Looms appeared first on CasinoBeats.