ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap Leads SHU Panel on Sports Gambling

Participants underscore need for federal regulations and addiction prevention in sports gambling

For a growing segment of college-aged students, the nightly sportscast has become less about cheering on their favorite teams with their friends and more about the spread and how much they can—or can’t—afford to lose on a chance to hit it big.

The issue brought Jeremy Schaap, host of ESPN’s E60 and Outside the Lines, to Sacred Heart University recently to moderate a panel of SHU alumni discussing problems associated with legalized sports gambling. The University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology, School of Communication, Media & the Arts and collegiate recovery program co-sponsored the event.

The forum began with an excerpt from a recent Outside the Lines episode that focused on the legalization of sports betting and its impact. Panelist Brian Dolan ’13, director of SHU’s collegiate recovery program, then shared that he became addicted to gambling as an undergraduate student. He addressed the ease with which students today can fall into a gambling web. “I had to know and go through a bookie to place bets. Now all you need is your phone,” he said.

After discussing differences between addictions to gambling versus drugs or alcohol, he commented that wagering is a way for young former athletes to stay connected to the sports they used to play. “I’m not here to say there can’t be gambling. I think there needs to be more [addiction] prevention as well as honest conversations around it,” Dolan said.

Gus Pfisterer ’20, content associate at ESPN who was a producer on the Outside the Lines gambling episode, was another panelist. He recalled students gambling on campus as well. “Everyone was either driving to another state or placing illegal offshore bets,” he said. “Offshore and illegal gambling is still extremely prevalent today, and it’s only getting bigger as the regulators come in [for the legalized gambling].

Schaap asked panelists to comment on how to weigh the potentially life-altering risks associated with gambling against the needs of a growing industry. Liam Roecklein ’11, founder and CEO of Relentless Digital Media, and Ryan Hannable ’12, managing content editor at BetMGM, agreed that while there is a demand for the gambling industry, it should be federally regulated, as is the alcohol industry. Currently, each state has its own sports gambling regulations.

Panelist Kaitlin Brown ’08, senior director of programs & services with the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said she has seen a pattern since the state legalized sports gambling in October 2021. “We have seen a significant increase in calls to our helpline,” she said. “It is skewing younger, mostly males—a lot of college students and a lot of parents of young people.” She said the rapid speed with which people can place bets on their phones makes gambling more addictive.

Andrew Miller, communication studies department chair, helped organize the event. He described the panelists as “an incredibly talented and experienced group of alumni” who greatly contributed to the program’s success. “The discussion, expertly led by ESPN journalist Jeremy Schaap, was interesting and insightful, and the panelists did a terrific job educating the audience on the positive and negative effects of legalized sports gambling,” Miller said.

The forum was well received, said Joshua Shuart, SHU professor of sport management. “There was great energy and interplay between the panelists, all representing different perspectives on legalized sports gambling. It came off wonderfully, and I attribute much of that to our different University departments working collaboratively together,” he said.

Pictured, from left, are Brian Dolan, director of SHU's Collegiate Recovery Program, Kaitlin Brown '08, senior director of Programs & Services with the CT Council on Program Gambling, ESPN's Jeremy Schaap, Gus Pfisterer '20, content associate at ESPN, Ryan Hannable '12, managing content editor at BetMGM, and Liam Roecklein '11, founder & CEO of Relentless Digital Media. Photo by SCM student Wilson Valois.