Super Bowl 2025 is less than two weeks away, with the Philadelphia Eagles finding themselves in a rematch with reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Sports engagement has ballooned over the past few years through the medium of online sports betting. Formerly illegal, sports betting has taken the U.S. by storm, with major celebrities and sports stars going on air advocating the practice. Making money off your favorite team just got wildly popular.

But is it healthy?

A recent article titled “I Got Divorced Because of Sports Betting” shows the dark side of the gamble. Pitched as an easy way to make money online, no one talks about the mad fury that ensues after your bet fails to deliver, your team loses, and someone else gets to take your money.

The article covers the stories of three women who noticed their loved ones showing increasingly suspicious and problematic behavior after downloading sports betting apps. One woman, a mother, noticed her son getting into sports gambling and initially thought it was a harmless habit, but soon she discovered that he was thousands of dollars in debt. He was losing the bets and losing loads of money with it.

Another woman discusses how her brother got into sports betting and, despite having a stable job, repeatedly got kicked out of living arrangements due to failure to pay his rent. “As a result, he hasn’t been able to find stability for himself in adulthood,” she said.

He can’t maintain a stable romantic relationship, much less hold down a job and maintain car payments and rent payments. I work in the mental-health field, so I’ve been careful about implementing boundaries. But as a sister, it’s overwhelming and difficult and really sad. I have these waves of deep frustration — like, “Why can’t you just …” But again, I understand what addiction does to the brain and the body. I have to measure myself in the amount of emotional energy I give to his situation. Because what can I do? I never want to see my brother homeless. But I don’t want to enable him, either.

It’s remarkable how quickly online sports betting has achieved this level of popularity. While people have always gambled, despite the legality, it feels like sports gambling is reaching almost epidemic levels. Sure, you might win big if you’re lucky, but what about the addictive obsession that comes with the activity? What about the debt? Rachel Epstein highlights the problem in Men’s Health, writing,

 The NCPG estimated that the risk for a gambling addiction rose by 30 percent between 2018 and 2021, particularly among men ages 18 to 24. Men are more likely to have a gambling problem than women, and sports bettors are much higher-intensity gamblers overall, with live in-game betting being associated with greater levels of impulsivity.

As sports betting soars, watching games will naturally come with temptation. It’s no longer about mere entertainment. It’s entertainment with massive stakes.