Business Ethics Case Competition 2023-2024
John Paul Brissette ’25
On Saturday, October 29th, the finals for the Providence College Business Ethics Case Competition took place. This year’s case study focused on sports betting on college campuses across the United States.
Sports gambling is popular at colleges, enticing students with the chance to make a quick buck and enhancing the excitement of watching sports. According to a survey by the NCAA, 67% of on-campus college students say they bet on sports. However, the allure of sports gambling is not without its pitfalls. “Many college campuses don’t realize how big of an issue this has become until it’s too late,” said Patrick Kelly, Ph.D., professor of accountancy and director of the Ethics in Business Education Program, who studies the impacts of casino gambling. He has concerns about sports betting on college campuses because some college students meet the sports betting problem gambling criteria identified by the National Council on Problem Gambling.
“Sports bettors with gambling problems tend to be male, young, single, fully employed, highly educated, impulsive, and associated with others who also engage in sports betting,” he said. “Given the potential for problem gambling among college students, I think it is important to inform students about the risks associated with sports betting.” The Ethics Competition is one way to highlight this issue, Kelly said. It exposes participants to a real-world ethics issue and challenges them to develop recommendations that involve critical thinking, ethical reasoning, communication skills, and teamwork. The competition witnessed the highest registration to date, with over 14 teams competing over the two-day event. The students were challenged to provide an overall recommendation to the leadership of the fictional university “XYZ” regarding whether to accept a lucrative contract from a sports book. The contract entailed the ability to host events and display the sports book’s logo on the university’s complexes, and students were tasked with addressing how to minimize gambling-related problems on campus.
This year’s competition winners — Adam Sienkiewicz ’25, Jillian Mike ’25, Meredith Valentine ’24, and Emma Ricciardelli ’25 — will represent Providence College at the Michael Smith Regional Ethics Case Competition on February 24th, competing virtually against teams from other schools. Additionally, they will share the first-place cash prize of $1,200.
“I believe the biggest problem with sports gambling is that it is becoming normalized. When activities such as sports betting become normalized, existing and potential problems are exacerbated. When sports betting is integrated into a college campus, impressionable individuals with underdeveloped impulse control are exposed to a highly addictive behavior. These are the individuals that sports books target, trying to normalize excessive gambling at a young age,” said winning team member Jillian Mike ’25, who is majoring in English and psychology.
The ethics competition serves as an excellent way for students to engage on campus, and it’s not limited exclusively to business majors. “Providence College’s liberal arts education fosters critical thinking and effective communication,” Kelly said. “I was proud of all of the students choosing to participate in this competition.” “Participating in events, such as this ethics competition, is invaluable to the college experience. Personally, I learned so much evaluating different ethical theories in terms of a business prompt,” Mike said. “I am not a student in the Providence College School of Business, so this was a new experience for me in every sense. Students should take advantage of competing in competitions, even if they are not applicable to their major. You never know what you might learn about yourself.”
