I do something regularly that I wish I didn’t. I bet on sports online.
Perhaps you’ve seen the advertisements for FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics, and the like. You definitely have if you’ve turned on any sports program recently, as the advertisements come in hot and heavy every few minutes, including on SportsCenter, which now has segments on what bets to make. Heck, ESPN has even gotten in on the action—literally—with ESPN Bet.
These apps are now enormous businesses. Estimates are that online sports betting companies are taking in around $15 billion in 2024, and that 37.6 million people bet online in the United States. About three in four betters are men. Broadcasts and sporting events are regularly sponsored by one of the online sportsbooks.
I’m one of their customers. I watch a lot of sports and started betting on various games and events a couple years ago. I was enticed in part by a promotion that would give me $250 if I made a couple of bets. Who would turn down free money? Not me.
This is all a relatively recent development, as in 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that it was up to each state to decide whether sports betting would be legal within its borders. New Jersey was first to declare betting legal and many others quickly followed; today we are up to 38 states that have legalized betting in some context.
So what are the problems?
The data are clear and compelling—and not good. As author Charles Fain Lehman put it,
Sports Betting Hurts American Men. Time To Rethink Its Regulation | Opinion
