San Diego State Creates Dedicated Sports Betting Institute
Posted on: July 9, 2025, 02:55h.
Last updated on: July 9, 2025, 02:55h.
- Institute will be part of School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
- Regulations, sports wagering behavior, player protection among areas of focus
San Diego State University formed a new institute focusing on the fast-growing sports wagering industry.
The Institute on Sports Wagering and Gaming (ISWAG) will be part of the college’s L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and will focus on areas such as bettor behavior, education, industry engagement, and policy research.
ISWAG will also serve as a collaborative space for faculty and departments across SDSU to explore the cultural and health implications of sports wagering,” according to a press release. “With the sports betting industry expanding across the U.S. and globally, the ISWAG is uniquely positioned to offer research informed guidance at a time of unprecedented growth and public attention.”
San Diego State is one of the largest schools in the California State University systems and has five location in addition to its main campus.
San Diego State Sports Betting Institute Joins Small Field
It’s been about seven years since the now-famous 2018 Supreme Court ruling on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and while a slew of colleges have published sports betting-related research, few offer dedicated problems or degrees.
That is to say San Diego State’s ISWAG is joining a sparsely populated field, but one with significant growth potential as more people in academia focus on the behavioral effects of sports betting and related policy impacts.
In addition to San Diego State, the Universities of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and Reno have dedicated gaming institutes with some exposure to sports wagering. The University of Michigan offers a related statistics course. Seton Hall in New Jersey has been active in studying and surveying sports wagering and a offers graduate-level gaming course for aspiring lawyers.
San Diego State’s ISWAG will feature fields of study including sports betting behavior, policy initiatives, marketing, and player protection. The institute will also offer “certificate programs, student research opportunities, and executive education offerings to build capacity across the sector.”
Dr. Brandon Mastromartino, head of ISWAG, has published multiple papers on sports wagering, including several that were released this year.
Sports Betting Still Not Legal in California
One interesting element San Diego State’s ISWAG is that the institute is being run by a university in a state in which sports wagering isn’t legal. In fact, the school announcing the creation of the institute arrived soon after California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) declared daily fantasy sports (DFS) to be illegal in the state.
For how long Bonta’s view holds remains to be seen because Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) doesn’t agree. To be clear, academic pursuits of sports betting are legitimate and permitted even in states that haven’t legalized that form of wagering.
As for when California will join that party, that’s a decision that lies with the state’s tribal casino operators and the voters. The former must raise a ballot initiative to bring the issue to the latter and the earliest that could happen is 2026. It’s widely believed California tribes aren’t in a rush to usher in sports betting and could be content to let the matter wait until the 2028 election cycle.
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