You Can’t Spell Sports without Sports Betting

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The opinions reflected in this OpEd are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of staff, faculty and students of The King's College.

You see it on halftime shows, during commercial breaks and on promotional Instagram posts: a constant barrage of sports betting promoted by sports media giants ESPN, NBC, CBS and Bleacher Report. It’s all thanks to the expensive corporate advertising contracts each one has with gambling giants FanDuel Group and DraftKings Inc. 

In return, they get paid lump sums by the gambling agencies in exchange for televising their ads and posting on some of their social media accounts every once in a while.

Seems like a no-brainer, right? But this constant promotion has its consequences. 

If a young generation of sports fans are indirectly told by their news sources that sports betting is an exciting and fun medium for making possible large gains, they have no other reason to question such messaging. Since a large majority of people who follow these accounts are between the ages 16 and 24 — ages at which most are not even allowed to bet — there's a much higher likelihood that this constant promotion will lead to potential gambling addictions in these younger sports fans. 

I counted at least five ads for sports betting during a one Sunday NFL game on November 14. On Bleacher Report’s Instagram channel, the company reposted a reaction of young hockey fans exploding when a last-minute goal cashed in their bet for over 5.5 goals in the Canadiens versus Canucks game. 

You see the issue now?

Gambling can be exciting because it’s perhaps the only addiction where you think you can get rich. The cold hard truth is you mostly lose money — and if you’re not careful, you can lose it all. And sure you win some, but wins are rare. Americans collectively lose more than $100 billion sports betting a year, which goes to the pocket of the sports betting industry, according to gambling statistics from a non-profit called The Recovery Village, which helps people overcome addictions. 

Yet, there are at least 10 million people in the U.S. who have gambling addictions according to the Recovery Village. And with more states legalizing sports betting, gambling is becoming more accessible. Betting is so easy today. You can do so in the palm of your hand with your digital device. Notifications and advertisements lead you to find yourself judging money lines and scanning over spreads for the week. 

“You can win $100 daily!” 

“Odd boosted for this game and this game only!”

The truth, however, is, it’s fun. The thrill. The thought of landing a huge payout for something only you thought of and yet worked so little for from your couch, is so fulfilling. This is why you keep betting because if you win once, you can win again or at least you think so. It’s the reason why I have been to New Jersey eight times in the last three months. 

It doesn’t matter how much you watch sports or how closely you’ve been following Steph Curry this season. You can’t perfectly predict a game because there are so many factors to a game with several different possible outcomes. Heck, I thought taking Wake Forest money line against UNC earlier this year was the lock of the season and, indeed, I was wrong. 

The fact of the matter is, gambling can become highly addictive and since it’s becoming more popular, it boosts the chances of growing addictions in the future. Evidence shows that younger people, primarily men, ages 20 to 30 are the majority of those with gambling addictions. In fact,  75% of college students said they gambled in 2020 according to the Recovery Village, which is a recognized addiction rehab center. And roughly 30% of male athletes gamble and of that 30%, 66% gambled earlier in high school according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Sports betting is no different than buying a scratch-off or a Powerball ticket which is legal in 45 states. Nonetheless, the principle is the same. Plus sports and poker are arguably more exciting, which are the next two popular forms of gambling in college students, behind the lottery. 

If college students are betting more each year, this raises concern for growing financial hardship in a category of people that statistically already lack finance heft. In 2019, nearly 70% of all college students took out student loans, implying they cannot finance college on their own. However, if 65% of college students are betting on sports each year, they are taking risks you wouldn’t advise to your closest friend according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Now, we can’t stop people from gambling because when it’s legal, it’s a personal choice rather than criminal behavior. However, there’s very little warning that gambling is addictive and can lead to financial hardship. In every ad I see, there is nothing more than a running headline at the bottom “1-800-GAMBLER” please call if you have a gambling addiction.

Who’s going to call a hotline and profess an addiction they do not believe they have? As a gambling man, you understand it like this: When you win or go on a winning streak, you cannot be addicted because you’re making money so there are clearly no issues there. However, when you lose and continue to lose, you start to say, “Damn. Maybe I do have a problem?” 

Everyone, of all ages, watches sports. So when you show an ad, you’re advertising to a widespread audience. Even more so now, where you have Bleacher Report (BR) promoting betting on their social media, it’s going to intrigue a young adult. It’s basically encouraging the site’s followers to bet because they can win like so and so who also follow their content. I understand why and how there are ads in between timeouts and injuries because that’s the business of sports advertising. 

What I struggle to understand is that Bleacher Report, which has 17 million Instagram followers, continues to promote sports betting on its page. As someone who follows this channel closely on Instagram and Twitter, I have noticed a trend of two or more sports betting-related posts a week. Not to mention, they have their own betting page — currently running specials on FanDuel at the moment — to which they direct their followers and encourage them to follow, with no disclaimer. 

I’m not the only one who agrees that this consistent promotion of gambling is an issue, as nearly every BR promotional post is met with hundreds of comments with the same three words: “Stop promoting gambling.”  

This leads to the question: Who’s to blame? Is it the gambling agencies? Is it the sports media brands? Is it social media? The answer is yes to all of them. Everyone is to blame, and that’s why nothing is being done about it. Every sport, every team, every media company and bookie all play a hand in the industry, and as long as it benefits them, it benefits everyone. 

We’re seeing a culture of sports that is fully reliant on sports betting because the thrill of winning encourages more views. Sports are growing but so are gambling agencies, as DraftKings has a market capitalization of $30 billion and FanDuel plans to go public within the next year. 

So how do we monitor this growing issue of potential rising gambling addictions and plan to address it? Currently, there is no motive behind any gambling agency to stress this, as DraftKings and FanDuel constantly run promotions for first-time accounts. Right now, DraftKings allows you to sign on and bet $1 on any money line and receive $100. FanDuel lets you refer a friend and get $50 in their sportsbook and $50 in their casino which are just rigged blackjack tables. 

We’ve seen this same issue several times over in history. First, it was cigarettes in movies. Next, it was alcohol ads in magazines. Just recently it was fruit-flavored Juul pods. Now, it's sports betting on TV and social media. This tale of widespread Vice promotion is as old as time. Corporate America is once again taking a stand on “it’s for everyone so it’s not selective.” The truth is, ESPN, Bleacher Report, FanDuel, NFL, the NBA and others damn well know what they’re doing but the money speaks for itself. So the lack of concern for an addiction that is real is left on the sidelines.