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Ruined by sports betting: what does the future hold?
In the USA, there were gambling addicts even before sports betting was legalized. Like everywhere. But now they have even more and much easier options to satisfy their addiction. DraftKings etc. are a gateway for the target group of people interested in sports who overestimate their own knowledge and consider sport to be predictable. Even with basketball videos on YouTube you are bombarded: “100 dollars free if you bet 20 dollars once!”. And there are so many of these advertisements because the entire reporting is full of them. The big sports podcasts – sponsored by betting providers. YouTuber – sponsored by betting providers. If you want a piece of the cake yourself, you can not only get sponsored, but also launch a sports book yourself, think of “ESPN Bet” or “Barstool Bets”. Negative reporting is rarely found in the sports bubble.
How effective is the flood of advertising? In a 2023 NCAA study, 52.8 percent of young adults (18-22) surveyed said such advertising made them more likely to bet. For so-called “higher risk gamblers” it is even 80 percent.
If you look at the economic indicators of the states that have legalized sports betting, you not only see tax revenue from legalization, but also negative effects. Various studies suggest that average creditworthiness is falling in these countries, while debt collections (eight percent) and bankruptcies (28 percent) are increasing sharply in these countries. This translates into almost 100,000 more bankruptcies per year. In plain English: Some people not only gamble away their savings, but sometimes their entire livelihood.
And this is only going to get worse. Ben Andrews, market observer at Goldman Sachs, says: “The surge in prop bets like this is one of the reasons for the surge.” And predicts: Personalization and aggressive advertising will make this type of sports betting even more excessive. How far away is the following scenario: You watch the NBA on your smart TV, have linked your betting account to it, and a player takes a free throw. Shortly before the throw, a small window pops up: “Bet $5: Will Andre Drummond hit this free throw?” After all, the algorithm knows that you have often bet on free throws – so why not here?
The end of the flagpole is far from being reached.
