Legalized Sports Betting: Creating Excitement or Fueling Addiction?

Gambling has long been a part of our society, an entertaining way for people to play their favorite card games and perhaps to win a large sum of money. Familiar games such as poker, blackjack, or slot machines quickly come to mind.

But there is another way of gambling rapidly expanding across America: legalized sports betting, which offers fans an opportunity to win big payouts but also take big losses. 

Sports betting places money (a wager) on a particular outcome for a professional sports player or collective team. Some common examples are predicting that an NBA player will make a certain number of points, or that an NFL or NHL player will score a touchdown or a goal, in a particular game. 

These are just primary examples, but there are many other opportunities to gamble on different sporting events. This avenue of gambling can seem like a fun way to add excitement to watching your favorite sports teams. The possibility of winning a large sum of money is enticing and addictive to many sports fans, precisely why sports betting has grown to be such a lucrative business for many companies called sportsbooks. In 2022, fans bet over $235 billion, according to statista.com.

This astounding figure shows how legal sports betting has become a large part of the sports industry. And because of this, we need to understand the risks of gambling on sports events and understand just how it can quickly become highly and damagingly addictive.

Before people even step into a casino, most know that “the house always wins,” and they will likely walk out with less money than they came in with. The same can’t be said for sports betting: Many fans feel like they have a higher chance of winning and earning a profit on their bets, because they know much about their favorite sport or team.

This idea that we have a greater chance of winning when gambling on sports versus playing slot machines has been capitalized upon by some of the largest gambling organizations, such as FanDuel Sportsbook or Caesars Sportsbook.

These sportsbooks have spent a vast amount of their revenue on advertising alone, and know that once they get a sports fan to feel the thrill of placing a bet on a sports game, they have a good chance of having that fan hooked on sports betting.

For example, FanDuel paid for several broadcast advertisements during the recent Super Bowl broadcast and has paid for numerous advertisements on ESPN and many popular sports podcasts. Some of these advertisements have promotions that will give customers $150 in extra bet money if their $5 bet wins. This promo may seem like a good deal, but sportsbooks know that once a fan is hooked on betting, they will soon enough make back all the money in bonus bets they dished out.

These promos should wake us up to the highly lucrative and addictive sports gambling industry, and cause us to think twice before signing up for a sportsbook.

What are some potential pitfalls? For one, the financial losses of sports betting can snowball quickly. As people continue to gamble, their losses continue to pile up. These can cause increased anxiety and stress and bring on many financial troubles. Just like many forms of gambling, many sports bettors feel that if they only place one more winning bet, they will have made up all the money they lost. This addictive cycle can cause significant harm, in many ways.

Next time you see an advertisement for a lucrative promotion from a sports betting site, you should think again about how participating might sink you into a deep hole of stress and financial troubles. If you do feel comfortable joining in, remember to set limits on how much you are willing to bet and constantly check to ensure you are not becoming addicted.

If you feel that you may be addicted to sports betting, you are not alone, and there are many resources and organizations that can help you. The National Problem Gambling Helpline, 1-800-GAMBLER, offers call, text, and chat services 24/7.