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The Social and Economic Impact of Gambling – Challenges and Solutions

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Economic Impact of Gambling

Explore the societal and economic effects of gambling, along with proposed solutions to address associated challenges effectively.

Gambling’s social and economic implications have long been a source of discussion. Many people see this as a means to relax and unwind, while others are harshly critical of this activity because of the potential for addiction.

There is, however, no objective way to evaluate the social and economic effects of gambling because all judgments are subjective. Depending on whether you approach this examination from a global or personal perspective, the results may be different.

Although some people find gambling to be a problem, legal gambling is now widely accepted both domestically and abroad since it provides a convenient source of entertainment and boosts local economies.

Furthermore, this industry adapts to changes in the social and economic landscape. You can even find a bitcoin live casino nowadays.

Therefore, it’s essential to do more research on this subject and define the right approach to analyze these effects. In order to offer valuable, evidence-based information to readers, this article does not focus on potential negative outcomes or benefits but rather on impacts or challenges and potential solutions. Here they are!

Economic Impacts of Gambling

This section includes impacts of monetary nature. Let’s divide them into two categories.

Global Impacts

  • Infrastructure costs: Building new gambling facilities requires high investments, which can increase government costs. Cities should improve their roads to avoid congested traffic and police and fire services to offer prompt responses to emergencies if casinos represent good opportunities for tourism.
  • Regulatory costs: Governments must also allocate money to ensure that gambling sites operate in accordance with the latest regulations.
  • Business starts and failures: Authorities should also pay attention to the number of new businesses associated with gambling and monitor failures, as they can affect numerous industries, such as hospitality, construction, tourism, entertainment, and more.
  • Revenue losses: It is important to pay attention to businesses that may experience drops in sales and revenue due to the introduction of gambling.

Impacts at the Individual Level

  • Personal income and expenses: Gambling can affect a person’s personal income and expenses. Although bets can result in profit, punters must spend money to make them. Unfortunately, casino games have resulted in high debt and financial problems in families where at least one individual experiences addiction.
  • Expenses associated with problem gambling: If they experience problem or pathological gambling, people may need huge amounts to pay for treatments to change their behaviors and address gambling-related problems.

Social Impacts of Gambling

In this section, impacts with a non-monetary nature are included. These are some examples:

  • Problem gambling: Individuals and families can be greatly affected by problem gambling, which often leads to bankruptcy, suicide, divorce, and expensive treatment requirements.
  • Crime: Unfortunately, the gambling industry is vulnerable to attacks by hackers and scammers, whether casinos are land-based or online. Furthermore, governments face many challenges in places where this activity is illegal.
  • Socioeconomic inequality: The financial impact of gambling can vary depending on people’s socioeconomic levels since it does not affect all groups in society in the same way. These effects can be more or less aggressive in certain individuals.
  • Public attitudes: Governments must address changes in public attitudes associated with gambling, such as perceived benefits that may result in other issues. Authorities must also clarify their role in the industry.
  • Leisure activities: People’s perceptions of gambling and recreational activities can also change due to gambling, which can affect their lives and social values ​​if not properly addressed.
  • Quality of life: Gambling and leisure patterns can also affect people’s quality of life in cases where this activity causes addiction, becomes pathological, or is not properly regulated. Although it is difficult to measure and cannot be attributed to gambling behavior alone, it can also have an impact on public health, and it’s relevant if it exists.

Potential Solutions to the Social and Economic Challenges Brought by Gambling

When gambling becomes a problem, individuals must make changes in their behaviors and take precautionary measures to avoid or reduce the negative effects.

Experts offer effective recommendations, such as reducing financial risk by stopping using credit cards or taking out loans, socializing outside of casinos, or finding an alternative hobby to fill the gap when they stop gambling.

Players should also learn to identify the signs that they are developing an addiction to physical or different kinds of crash games or facing other related issues in order to seek help early.

However, the solution to many gambling-related problems is not in the hands of a single person.

As you can see, many of the economic and social challenges affect entire societies. In these cases, government intervention is necessary.

Governments can alleviate the financial burden caused by gambling infrastructure needs or expenses by earning revenue from the same industry.

Taxation can aid governments in making money that can be invested back into the same industry, into other sectors, or into other industries if it promotes local tourism or other businesses. As already mentioned, casinos are important to the economies of numerous cities.

However, it is crucial to allocate a percentage of those earnings to the regulatory initiatives of the government. One of the main problems with gambling is crime. Unfortunately, assaults, robberies, and con games happen frequently in unlicensed or illegal casinos.

Governments can, however, address this problem by ensuring that casino operators follow the most recent laws.

They can also create educational initiatives to support responsible gambling and aid people in avoiding unfavorable changes in their behavior or gaming habits.

Legalization of gambling in particular situations can also aid in resolving related economic and social problems. Experts must conduct in-depth research on this, though.

Authorities should also pay attention to potential gambling-affected enterprises and provide protections to assist them in coping with the financial difficulties brought on by the advent of this activity.

Governments can develop financial and investment strategies for these industries and find a method to benefit them through gaming, such as tourism or construction, in cities or nations where casinos are legal and beneficial to the economy. For instance, if casinos are profitable and grow, both industries could see an increase in revenue.

Final Reflections

In conclusion, both individuals and communities can enjoy recreational opportunities through gambling. These positive effects, particularly in terms of leisure and tourism, can even benefit a lot of towns and governments.

Like any activity, though, it can bring substantial difficulties for everyone involved and for society as a whole. Therefore, to lessen the negative impacts of gambling while still enjoying its benefits, both players and governments should adopt best practices and take into account the solutions described above.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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FIFA Picks Saudi Arabia to Host 2034 World Cup

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saudi arabia 2034 fifa world cup bid

By Adedapo Adesanya

Saudi Arabia has been confirmed as the host nation for the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

Also confirmed were the hosts for the 2030 World Cup, which was awarded to six countries and will take place across three continents to celebrate 100 years of the tournament.

Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder for the 2034 competition. Its host status was confirmed on Wednesday after an online meeting of the 211 members of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).

The members confirmed the unchallenged bids by acclamation – simply clapping during the virtual meeting led by FIFA president, Mr Gianni Infantino.

As well as the World Cup, Saudi Arabia is hosting football’s 2027 Asian Cup, the 2029 Asian Winter Games and the 2034 Asian Games. It also has long-term ambitions to host more major events, including the Women’s World Cup.

The 2030 tournament will be led by co-hosts Spain and Portugal in Europe, and Morocco in North Africa. Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina will each hold an opening match to mark 100 years since the first World Cup took place in Uruguay in 1930, a tournament that the South American nation won.

The next World Cup in 2026 will be co-hosted by three proximal nations in North America— the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Saudi Arabia first published its bid for the World Cup back in August 2024 after FIFA controversially fast-tracked the process for hosting the tournaments in 2030 and 2034.

The bid for the 2034 tournament has led to criticism from activist groups, who argue that Saudi laws will not protect workers overseas.

Some of the issues echoed that of the 2022 tournament held in Qatar.

The tournament will require the construction of eight new stadiums, for a total of 15 hosting venues, plus the addition of 175,000 hotel rooms, which will rely heavily on migrant labour.

Critics of FIFA also insist a Saudi-based World Cup risks a repeat of the rights abuses seen during a decade of similar preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

FIFA previously praised the Saudi bid in an in-house evaluation, noting that the 48-team, 104-game tournament offers “significant opportunities for positive human rights impact”.

However, it added that Saudi Arabia must invest “significant effort and time” to comply with international standards.

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Brila FM Suspends Operations in Port Harcourt, Abuja Over N200m Fraud

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brila FM

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Leading sports radio station in Nigeria, Brila FM, owned by a veteran sports journalist, Mr Larry Izamoje, has suspended its operations in Abuja and Port Harcourt in Rivers State.

The broadcast stations in these two prominent cities of the country are currently not on air as a result of the directive of Mr Izamoje.

He took the action after uncovering fraudulent activities by employees of the company.

It was alleged that Brila FM’s Head of the Port Harcourt branch, Mr Sam Victor Mpong Akakan, has not been remitting funds to the company’s account.

In a statement made available to Business Post, it was stated that Mr Akakan has been arrested by the police in connection with the issue alongside the organisation’s former Chief Accountant, Mr Ekerete Sunday.

Mr Akakan was accused of opening a company, Bricast Communications, only two months after Brila FM Port Harcourt began operations with him as the Head of Station.

It was claimed that he took the first three letters of Brila and the word ‘CAST’ from ‘BroadCASTing’ to register his business name, which he allegedly used to issue invoices meant for Brila FM.

It was said that in connivance with others, Mr Akakan issued several Bricast Communications invoices with Bricast account details to several Brila FM clients instead of the company’s invoice bearing Brila Broadcasting Services Ltd for the diversion of payments for adverts and sponsored programmes aired on Brila FM stations in Abuja and Port Harcourt particularly.

He is also being investigated for forging certificates of broadcasts of Brila FM, tendering the same to clients using his Bricast invoices and getting payments into his Bricast account from such activities.

Mr Akakan was said to have presented himself on several occasions to unsuspecting clients including churches as Brila FM’s marketer and once convinced to do business on Brila FM gave them Bricast invoices for payments to his company (Bricast) repeatedly.

It was claimed that a fraud case involving over N200 million led to the temporary suspension of the Abuja and Port Harcourt branches.

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Analysis Reveals Wilfried Zaha as Africa’s Most Handsome Athlete for 2024

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Wilfried Zaha

By Dipo Olowookere

An analysis has shown that an Ivorian footballer, Wilfried Zaha, is the most handsome African sportsperson in 2024.

Zaha, who opted to play for Cote d’Ivoire after the Three Lions of England snubbed by him, currently plies his trade in Turkey for Galatasaray.

He moved to Turkey from England, where he played for Crystal Palace, and was one of the stars of the football outfit.

In research conducted by Bettors, Zaha topped the list as the most attractive African male athlete of 2024, closely followed by Odion Ighalo, a former Nigerian striker, and Akani Simbine, a South African sprinter.

The Most Handsome African Athletes of 2024 rankings used the golden ratio as a benchmark for facial attractiveness.

This study carefully analysed high-quality images of athletes from various sports, offering a fresh perspective on their aesthetic appeal.

The methodology involved selecting three high-quality images per athlete, sourced from official sports archives, media outlets, and verified athlete profiles, ensuring accuracy and clarity, according to the results of the research made available to Business Post.

Fourth on the list is Alex Iwobi of Nigeria, who plays for Fulham FC in England, and a Tanzanian footballer with Greece’s PAOK, Ally Samatta, is the fifth Most Handsome Athlete in Africa.

Ghana and Arsenal’s midfielder, Thomas Partey, is sixth, Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly is seventh, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Garbon is eight, Ivorian Cheick Sallah-Cisse is ninth and Senegalese Reug Reug is number 10 on the list.

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