Carnegie Mellon professors launch sports betting awareness course
As gambling continues to grow on US college campuses, a Carnegie Mellon University statistician has teamed up with a neuroscience professor to teach students about the risks associated with sports betting.
Statistician Ron Yurko and neuroscience professor Linda Moya will co-teach the undergraduate course, which will focus on gambling safety and decision-making. Yurko will cover the statistics behind sports wagering, while Moya will explore how brain functions influence gambling behavior.
The initiative comes as sports betting increases in student life. A 2023 NCAA survey found that about two-thirds of students living on campus placed bets. Yurko told GoErie, “They’re doing it right in the classroom, even.”
Since the US Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling legalized sports betting, the industry has grown into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Yurko said he wants students to understand the odds are stacked against them, noting that sportsbooks exclude skilled bettors.
Moya also added that the course’s main goal is to help students recognize how addictive behaviors develop, telling USA Today, “The goal is that by the end of the course, students will know generally how the healthy brain makes decisions and how the addicted brain can lead to making bad decisions.”
Yurko is also considering building a mock sportsbook for the class to show how gambling platforms maintain their advantage.
The course, set for spring 2026, has already filled all 35 seats, with a waitlist.
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Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
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