An addiction in the shadows
By Ian Enders
Miami University Journalism Student
If you were to ask your mother what she thinks are the most common addictions in the United States, she would probably list things such as alcohol, coffee, tobacco and nicotine, drugs, the internet and sex.
Statistically speaking, the top three are alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana; however, there is a new addiction in town, and it’s been lurking in the shadows since the government legalized it.
What is it? Sports gambling.
The rise of sports betting
The sports betting industry had exploded in popularity since 2018 when the United States Supreme Court repealed a ruling prohibiting states from legalizing sports gambling.
Since then, 38 states have legalized sports betting, with 29 allowing those bets to be placed online, and it has turned into a billion-dollar industry. Commercial gaming revenue was $11.46 billion in the first two months of 2024, 6.8% ahead of last year’s record-setting pace.
According to DriveResearch, 46% of all American adults have placed at least one sports wager in the past year. This can be attributed to many factors, such as the expansion of online betting platforms, increased advertising and increased media coverage of sports betting.
The rise in popularity has come with a surge in problem gambling and addiction, especially in younger men ages 18–34. The gambling phenomenon has swept most college campuses in the United States.
A survey done in 2023 by Statista showed that men within the age group mentioned above are the most likely to engage in the activity. Fifty-five percent of people in this age group have placed at least one sports bet. The National Council on Problem Gaming reported that they saw a 30% increase in gambling problems from 2018 to 2023.
One out of every ten college students is a gambling addict.
College students have always gambled to try and make a quick buck, whether playing poker or betting on sporting events through a “bookie” (someone who facilitates gambling and placing bets). However, betting apps have begun to find significant traction on college campuses, and keeping up with them all is nearly impossible.
A survey by the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) showed that almost 60% of college-age students have bet on sports, and 4% do it daily. Six percent reported losing more than $500 in a single day.
Terry’s story
Terry Ferrell is a senior at Miami University majoring in kinesiology from Dayton, Ohio. He’s involved on campus as a Black Student Action Association member, a Made at Miami leader, and a HAWKS peer health educator. Just over a year ago, Ferrell says he became interested in sports betting due to the constant bombardment of advertisements on social media, TV, YouTube and other platforms.
It’s now one of his favorite pastimes.
“It was all over TV. I keep seeing commercials about Fan Duel, Draft Kings, Prize Picks, and stuff like that kept coming across the screen, so I tried it out,” Ferrell says.
A study conducted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation found that 3,537 gambling messages were broadcast across five NHL games and two NBA games. The average broadcast for basketball and hockey is three hours, which means roughly three gambling messages are shown every minute. They found that audiences of these televised games spend 20% of their viewing time seeing ads for sports betting websites.
Ferrell’s first bet — a parlay — was one of the companies’ free bets to attract new customers.
A parlay is when a bettor makes two or more bets to create one wager. Every part of the parlay must be correct—if you lose one part, you win nothing. Parlay bets are much riskier because they contain many individual bets but offer a bigger payout if an individual wins.
Terry’s first bet was a parlay that won him $2,200. At that moment, he was hooked.
“That was my first bet ever, and it just seemed like, ‘Oh wow, I’m going to be able to do this for the rest of my life,’” Ferrell says.
Free bets and “risk-free” bets are designed to encourage people to try sports betting. They give people that winning feeling while making them think that they aren’t going to lose much.
Ferrell believes that sports betting has sparked his love for watching sports he likes and finding new ones. He consistently bets $5-$10, with the occasional bet outside that range.
He says he believes he has control over his newfound hobby and sees the danger of going overboard.
“I would consider myself an addict, but I can stop. I know that is what all addicts would say, but it doesn’t affect my whole day,” Ferrell says. “What am I going to get upset about if I can’t control the outcome?”
Ferrell advises newcomers to understand their bets responsibly and avoid excess.
The psychology behind sports betting
Sports betting is an activity that offers the promise of victory and the feeling of being the smartest person in the room, but it can also result in disappointment and defeat.
So, how does this activity attract almost half of all American adults?
Experts suggest that the excitement of the unknown is a major factor in drawing people to sports betting. Two common cognitive biases, namely confirmation bias and overconfidence bias, can lead bettors to make irrational and risky decisions.
The Oxford Language Dictionary defines confirmation bias as “the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation to one’s existing beliefs or theories.” Confirmation bias in a betting context means that a bettor may ignore their favorite team’s statistics because of their emotional connection to the team and then place a bet.
Overconfidence bias is the sense of supreme knowledge, leading to overestimating one’s ability to predict outcomes, resulting in more bets.
“It seemed like I could put a bit down and win a lot with my sports knowledge. It seemed like fast money,” Ferrell says. “It just seemed appealing, and I could make some extra money.”
A modest win can give the brain dopamine, reinforcing the behavior and motivating additional bets. That’s when innocent bets start to cascade into problematic gambling behaviors that can lead to emotional and financial destruction.
The role of technology
Brody Ruihley is the assistant chair of the Department of Sports Leadership and Management and associate professor of Sports Leadership and Management at Miami University. He spends much of his free time researching responsible gaming, gambling and sports gambling.
Ruihley believes that devices have served as a gold mine for real-time data and informed decision-making at the fingertips of bettors.
He says technology and sports betting merging have democratized placing wagers from anywhere with cellular data or an internet connection. The casino is no longer a 15–20-minute drive away—it is in your pocket or your living room.
“The problem I have the most is that we can do this on our phones, in private,” Ruihley says. “You no longer have to walk up to the window again after you lost $500 with that shame to speak to another human, and the other human can recognize, ‘Oh wait, you have a problem.’”
The biggest elephant in the room is that technology gives anyone with a smart device a way of contacting and harassing athletes.
In April, NCAA President Charlie Baker urged states to ban prop betting on college sports, which has become a major concern in the sports betting realm.
Prop betting is a type of wager on an individual player or specific event in a game/match that is not directly connected to the game's outcome. This allows you to bet on individual statistics or total points scored in a game.
However, Baker wants to ban these types of bets on college athletes due to the increasing harassment of student-athletes. According to NCAA research, one out of every three student-athletes gets harassed by sports bettors, which is why he wants to take action to protect them.
Athletes are people, too
Cameron Williams is a redshirt senior linebacker at Miami University. Playing Division One football has always been his dream. Williams hasn’t lost any love for the sport, but believes that the cons of sports betting outweigh the pros from an athlete’s perspective.
“I feel like it gives us an edge. You don’t want to disappoint people, and obviously, you don’t want to deal with social media slander after the game,” Williams says. “Social media has definitely impacted players, and the fan-to-player aspect of football has gotten a lot crazier.”
A report from the International Olympic Committee showed that the abuse of athletes on social media has been on the rise in recent years. It found that one-third of posts about athletes contain negative content about athletes. It also found that content is primarily discriminatory or emotional forms of harassment.
Williams has been in the locker room of a power-five program like Indiana and a mid-level program like Miami. He was even teammates with the former Indiana star quarterback and 8th overall draft pick Michael Penix. He has heard his fair share of trash talk and harassment towards his teammates.
“As you can imagine, even though I’m just a player on the team, people will send you threats meant for other players,” Williams says. “You get harassed for other people’s mistakes because they might’ve missed a read or a block. Walk-ons who don’t even play or travel with the team get harassed and threatened.”
Articles are constantly being written about these players, and posts mocking players and their families go up at all hours of the day from accounts without profile pictures. Williams and many other athletes have many questions, but one is bigger than the rest.
“As a fan, when do morals pop into play?”
Williams is among many athletes who emphasize that sports are just a game, not life or death.
Road to recovery
Since sports betting was made legal in the state of Ohio in 2023, its accessibility has gone up considerably, but so has its acceptability.
According to Envision Partnerships, a community outreach and prevention group located in Butler County, Ohio, calls to the problem gambling helpline increased by 55%, going from 6,835 calls in 2022 to 10,637 in 2023.
Some problem gambling warning signs are spending more time and more money than intended, hiding gambling involvement, replacing other hobbies and interests, pawning /selling items and needing people to provide you money for necessities. Many resources exist, including prevention groups like Envision Partnerships, the National Problem Gambling Helpline and state-responsible gaming helplines and addiction services.
“Identify resources. Know your limits,” Ruihley says. “If it’s truly just entertainment for you, then set aside your entertainment dollars and say, ‘That’s it.’”
Ruihley also recommends that having a betting buddy is a good play. Having someone to hold you accountable and say no when you can’t do so yourself is impactful and can help break a bad habit.
Isabelle Munafo of Envision Partnerships recommends limiting wagers to 1% of your household income, participating once per week or no more than four times per month, and avoiding regularly gambling at more than two types of games.
“For sports betting specifically, if the game is no longer fun, that may be a sign to reevaluate your behaviors,” Munafo says.
Munafo believes that sports betting and gambling as a whole can be fun and safe with the use of low-risk guidelines.
