By AJ Werner | Reporter

What happened to the game I love? Betting — that’s what happened. As the American sports gambling industry grows, the purity of sports dies.

In the last few years I’ve felt something was off in the sports world. We’ve become so infatuated with player stats and less about watching a good game. When my friends flood our group chat with parlays that they had made for Sunday football — it hit me. Gambling is ruining sports.

What happened to being able to sit down and enjoy a random basketball, football or baseball game without having money on it? Rarely are people watching a game because they enjoy the sport. Sports should be an escape, but it’s now becoming a trap for addiction and degeneracy.

In 2023, the sports gambling industry had a record $11 billion in revenue, an increase of 45% from 2022. That said, there are a lot of new faces who are putting their money into sporting events. The problem isn’t that new people are betting on sports; it’s the behavior of bettors that’s becoming a huge red flag.

In an article from Vice, the NCAA did a study tracking abusive or threatening messages to athletes and coaches. The study included posts made toward 3,000 college athletes, 500 coaches, 200 event officials and 165 team accounts during games. They were able to flag 747 posts that could be found as abusive. One in four came from people complaining about losing their sports bets. This study didn’t include direct messages, but the number of abusive messages an athlete or coach receives off a losing bet is certainly higher.

Sending a hateful message to an athlete is too far, and rarely do people who are sending these messages think about how they’re affecting the athlete receiving them. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery said during his rookie year, he had suicidal thoughts partly due to messages he received from fantasy football managers. He said that these messages brought him to a point where he was “scared to live.”

Sports betting doesn’t only hurt the athletes involved, it can hurt the bettor as well. NBC News reports that gambling addiction hotlines across all states are seeing an increase in calls as the legalization of sports gambling and the promotion of sports betting apps continues. These hotlines receive calls from people who are filing for bankruptcy, losing their homes and ruining their relationships. Sports should be a way to forget about your real-life stressors — not add to them or even ruin your life.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a bet here and there. There are many sports personalities and outlets I enjoy that promote sports betting. People go to casinos to gamble, and putting money on sports isn’t much different. However, as the industry gets bigger, so do its problems. The bad behavior seen in sports gambling is truly disturbing and has no place in society. So if you’re going to place a bet, remember this: Athletes aren’t losing your money, you are.