The legalization of sports gambling has led to a significant deterioration in consumers’ financial health, particularly in states that allow online betting, new research shows.

“We find a substantial increase in bankruptcy rates, debt collections, debt consolidation loans, and auto loan delinquencies” in states that offer legal sports gambling, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California say in a new working paper. “We also find that financial institutions respond to the reduced creditworthiness of consumers by restricting access to credit.”

Legal sports gambling has proliferated around the country since a 2018 Supreme Court ruling struck down a law banning the practice.

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