By Oliver Thomas, Staff Writer

If you turn on ESPN to watch a game, your screen is instantly be flooded with gambling ads. From being told what the live spread is to constant ads from DraftKings, FanDuel and Bet MGM, fans can’t go 30 seconds without seeing something gambling-related.

It did not always used to be this way. As someone who has watched sports my whole life, there used to be a major stigma around sports gambling. It was viewed as shady and immoral, and you rarely saw it on broadcasts.

However, this changed when sports gambling was legalized, and lawmakers realized they could cut a profit off ignorant sports fans. For example, in 2023, the Ohio government was able to pocket $130.6 million from sports gambling taxes in just one year. 

The skyrocketing popularity of sports gambling has a dystopian feel to it. Broadcasts now feel like one giant gambling ad, targeting uneducated fans who are completely ignorant to the fact that they are throwing away their own money to these companies.

What makes this whole situation even more disheartening is the fact that these advertisements are clearly directed at children. Every time I open an app like TikTok or Instagram, I always see Kevin Durant telling me to place a risk-free bet on FanDuel, or LeBron telling me about DraftKing’s new deal. 

With most adolescents using social media, gambling companies have made sure to make their presence felt on these sites. Accounts I used to follow on social media like ESPN and Bleacher Report now are filled with advertisements for sports books posting clearly fake betting tickets and trying to persuade their younger audience to place ill-advised, long-shot parlays. 

These books also make it incredibly easy for minors to sign up for an account. All it takes is borrowing an adult’s ID before a child has all the freedom to place as many bets as their heart desires. 

The pandemic of sports gambling has gone far beyond getting fans of all ages addicted; as now, players are a part of the issue. 

In 2022, former Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for a year after placing bets on his own team while away from the team. 

In the NBA, the most serious incident yet happened as Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban for placing tens of thousands of dollars on his own player prop bets.

Even though there have only been a few such incidents, it is incredibly concerning when there are players placing bets on themselves and their own teams. With sports gambling still in the early stages of its popularity, it is fair to assume that the issues with athletes and gambling will only continue to grow.

If professional sports leagues want to show they are truly serious about keeping the integrity of the sport, then they need to distance themselves from these sports books. There is already a crowd of people that firmly believed that games are rigged, and leagues don’t help their case against this idea by promoting sports books nonstop. What was once just a sponsorship has turned into far more, as sports have now become more about money lines and player props than the games themselves. 

As a lifelong sports fan, the entire rise of sports gambling pains me. I have started seeing my favorite childhood athletes like LeBron James and Rob Gronkowski sell their souls to sports books just for a paycheck, as well as seeing what it has done to sports fandom. Sports gambling has taken away from simply enjoying games. So many fans no longer watch sports for the enjoyment of the sport as they must have money on the line to even sit down and watch a game. 

Unfortunately, there is not any change that can be made at the moment to fix any of this. However, the next best thing is for fans educate themselves on the danger that comes with sports gambling and  stay away from one of the most corrupt industries in America.