'Wall Street Oracle' Meredith Whitney blames sports betting for men not having sex
Financial markets analyst Meredith Whitney isn't enthusiastic about the spread of legal sports betting. She made her stance clear during an appearance on CNBC this week.
Whitney, the so-called "Wall Street prophet" who predicted the 2007-2008 financial crisis, believes that young people spend too much time playing with mobile phones and other electronic devices. She believes this is part of the reason why marriage rates are declining and why many men aren't having sex as much as they once did.
Whitney said on Business Network's "Squawk on the Street" that she has been analyzing consumer spending data for more than 20 years and recently discovered data points she had never seen before.
"Retail spending has declined throughout the year, with restaurant spending, travel, services and leisure being the deciding factors - they are the strengths - but the fastest-growing leisure spending is fantasy sports and online sports betting," Whitney explained road.
"The negative is these are just young adults. I compare that to the Pew Research Center, which says 63 percent of young adults are single. That's the highest it's ever been," Whitney continued. "Fifty percent of young men have no interest in dating, even casually. 30 percent of young men say they haven't had sex in more than a year, and they don't seem to care."
Sports Betting Data Points
New York-based market research firm Drive Research reported in August that the online sports betting demographic is younger, male and more affluent.
The Drive team concluded that nearly half (45%) of online sports bettors are between the ages of 23 and 34, with nearly seven out of 10 men. More than half have a college degree or higher, and two-thirds earn at least $50,000 a year.
Research has found that approximately 92 million U.S. adults participate in the legal U.S. sports betting industry. That's not necessarily a good thing, Whitney said.
The woman famous for predicting the housing crisis believes there could be negative economic consequences in the future as marriages decline and young men find pleasure in sports betting rather than women or partners. Whitney said low household formation rates will limit the number of buyers as older generations look to downsize.
"Who will be the buyer?" Whitney asked.
Texas and California could make the problem worse
Sports betting began to spread outside Nevada in May 2018 after the Supreme Court overturned a federal ban that limited single-game sports betting in Nevada. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 regulates sports betting in Nevada but prohibits new states from legalizing such betting.
Since SCOTUS repealed PASPA, more than 30 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted laws to regulate sports betting. But the country's two most populous states, California and Texas, with a combined population of nearly 70 million, have yet to allow sports betting. Florida, the third largest state in the country, just started sports betting this week.
Whitney believes her concerns about sports betting will only worsen in the coming years as more states bring more players into legal action as it affects young people.
"Homebuilders are smart. They build a lot of rental properties," Whitney concluded.
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Source: www.casino.org
