Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

4-2026

College/Unit

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Document Number

26-06

Department/Program/Center

Economics

Abstract

This paper estimates the causal effect of legalization of sports betting on marital dissolution. We exploit the staggered legalization of sports betting in states following the Murphy v. NCAA (2018) Supreme Court as a source of exogenous variation, using a U.S. state-year panel from 2012 to 2023. Implementing a difference-in-differences design, we find that legalization increases both the flow and stock of divorces: the annual divorce rate and the share of divorced men rise by 0.107 and 0.276 percentage points, respectively. These effects accumulate gradually over the post-treatment period, consistent with a mechanism operating through the slow deterioration of household finances and marital relationships. Our findings suggest that the social costs of sports betting legalization extend beyond individual financial and mental harm to include measurable disruptions to family structure.

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