There was a time when you’d have to fly to Nevada, take a trip to a reservation, or deal with a criminal bookie if you wanted to wager on sports. Today, most Americans have this power at their fingertips. It’s ruining sports, and more importantly, people’s livelihoods.
You can tell a lot about a society based on how it spends its money. Americans are spending more on sports betting than on movies, arts, museums, and music combined, according to Fortune. With an endless supply of sports betting apps offering free bets and boosted odds, the temptation to wager “a couple bucks here and there” feels nearly insurmountable. And before you know it, you’re down four figures — if you’re lucky. I would know, I’ve been there.
In an economy where people can’t afford gas, groceries, or housing, we as a society were somehow still able to come up with the money to spend $166 billion on sports betting last year. One can only imagine that number will increase this year. Everybody complains about how much necessities cost, but nobody talks about cutting back on irresponsible spending to afford them.
Americans are starting to realize the trap being set by Big Casino, with 79% of people believing gambling addictions are as serious as drug addictions, according to a March survey. Admitting you have an addiction is the first step to overcoming it. But it’s a long road to actually kicking the habit. Roughly 5 million Americans meet the criteria for compulsive gambling — and climbing — according to the National Council on Problem Gambling, but only 8% ever seek help.
With the bombardment of gambling advertisements across television and social media, it’s easy to see how people get hooked. The ads are built to make you think “these chumps are giving away free money” … but in reality, you’re the chump giving away free money. That’s gas money, that’s rent, that’s the electricity bill, that’s food for the week — it’s all gone. Oh, but the commercials put the gambling addiction hotline in the fine print, so they’re absolved of all responsibility.
Now more than ever, we’re also seeing gambling affect the outcomes of sporting events. Dozens of athletes across the major sports have been caught betting, even on their own matches. From point-shaving to game-throwing, legalized gambling has incentivized athletes already making millions of dollars to risk their livelihoods to hit the jackpot. Why would these athletes, who clearly don’t need the money, risk everything to make a quick buck? The answer is simple: it’s absolutely thrilling. Just as the roller coaster enthusiast gets a kick out of the loops and drops, and the kleptomaniac gets a kick out of stealing, the problem gambler is addicted to the thrill of risk-taking.
PETER CORDI: A FRESH LOOK AT MALCOLM MUGGERIDGE’S ‘JESUS, THE MAN WHO LIVES’
One may go his whole life without dying in an amusement park accident, but few thieves get away with it forever — and virtually zero gamblers turn a profit. To be more specific, only 4% of online gamblers made any profit at all over a five-year span, according to a University of California, San Diego study. That’s a 96% chance of losing money, or for our gambling-inclined audience, the odds are 24-to-1. Despite these odds, 43% of gamblers spent over 1% of their income on gambling; 5.3% spent more than 10%; and 3.2% spent more than 15%.
It costs more than ever to buy a home in 2026. Gas is over $4 per gallon. Groceries are up 33% since 2019. People are marching in the streets about “affordability” — and then draining their paycheck on 15-leg parlays when they get home. When you can’t afford your rent or mortgage because your foolproof “lock” didn’t pan out, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Americans will find out sooner, rather than later: The house always wins, and it’s coming for yours.