Sports betting may be one of the rare issues where voters across party lines share skepticism
by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project
Sports betting is often marketed as entertainment.
A game on the couch.
A quick wager.
A phone app.
A parlay.
A little extra excitement while watching sports.
But a new national registered-voter poll from Overton Insights suggests many voters are not sold on legalized sports betting in their state.
Overall, 31% of respondents said they strongly or somewhat support legalized sports betting. Forty-seven percent said they somewhat or strongly oppose it. Another 22% said they were not sure or had no opinion.
That is already a notable finding.
The party breakdown is even more interesting.
Republicans, Democrats and independents all showed more opposition than support.
That does not happen on every issue.
When it does, it is worth slowing down.
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The topline shows skepticism
The poll found that 16% of voters strongly support legalized sports betting in their state, while another 15% somewhat support it.
On the other side, 15% somewhat oppose it and 32% strongly oppose it.
Strong opposition was twice as high as strong support.
