Most people aren’t buying clothes on clearance or accepting free samples at the supermarket with a primary goal of maximizing altruistic impact; if they were, I think it would be reasonable for them to account for the tax-revenue consequences in their decision. (I do think it’s permissible to accept those kinds of promotions in everyday life, but I think that’s separate from how we should account for their impact.)
I think there are two differences that might matter to some people, but I don’t mean to claim that they will or should be decisive for everyone:
The relevant marginal tax rates for sports-betting companies are much higher than for companies selling consumer goods like clothes and food; in Massachusetts, I think the relevant tax rate is 20% for app-based sports betting.
Most people aren’t buying clothes on clearance or accepting free samples at the supermarket with a primary goal of maximizing altruistic impact; if they were, I think it would be reasonable for them to account for the tax-revenue consequences in their decision. (I do think it’s permissible to accept those kinds of promotions in everyday life, but I think that’s separate from how we should account for their impact.)