For most Badger basketball fans, Sunday's loss meant trouble for their office pool brackets. But losing a few dollars in an office pool might be the least of sports fanatics' worries, since any form of unlicensed gambling is technically illegal.
According to a CNBC report, more than $3 billion changes hands in March Madness office pools across the country and billions more are wagered in online and offshore sports books or with local bar room bookies. This means a significant percentage of people in Wisconsin are guilty of a crime they hardly knew they committed.
State law provides that a person who makes a bet or participates in gambling activity, other than commercial gambling, has committed a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment of up to 90 days or both.
That all may change with a new bill introduced by state Sen. Jeff Plale, D-South Milwaukee, and state Rep. Josh Zpenick, D-Milwaukee, that would lift criminal sanctions on office pools for sporting events.
An important part of having laws on the books is that people respect and obey them. For laws to be effective they must be consistently followed and enforceable, otherwise they become meaningless.
Zpenick argued in a press release that small office pools are not expanding gambling, but instead simply showing support for the home team. We could not agree more, and making such activities illegal only serves to delegitimize other, more important laws.
Part of the reason for the rapidly expanding popularity of March Madness is that fans can make predictions and compete against their friends, which can only serve to heighten interest in the sport and increase revenue for the schools involved.
Because private wagers are common and generally cause little harm, law enforcement authorities rarely prosecute noncommercial betting activities, such as office betting pools on sporting events. Since we would not be surprised if the police department had its own office pool, we support this bill's attempt to codify a policy already in practice.
Now, we call on the state Legislature to take the next logical step to outlaw Badger losses.
