Trinity students that spent winter break watching football like I did might have noticed a large number of advertisements promoting sports betting. I have even noticed these ads seeping into my Instagram and Reddit algorithms lately, suggesting that I “take the over or under” to receive cash advances in prize money.
I usually ignore advertisements, but the more gambling ads I notice, the more my concerns have grown. Advertisements promoting sports betting are inundating the media. Sportsbooks and sports media are shifting their marketing strategies, telling people to bet on the biggest games rather than simply watching them.
While sports betting is illegal in Texas, much of Trinity’s student population comes from out-of-state. The target audience of sportsbooks like FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM are avid young sports fans who might have a couple of bucks to spare, and they still advertise in Texas in the hopes of attracting customers visiting from out-of-state.
Whether or not someone can afford to participate in sports betting, the adrenaline rush one gets from hitting their parlays is a dangerous enabler. When I watch sports, it is solely for entertainment purposes, not for hitting parlays. When money is on the line, it creates a huge stressor to watching sports and can lead to gambling addiction.
Sportsbooks have become problematic and unethical in the sense that they aim to profit off of people’s gambling addictions. One grueling consequence of gambling addiction is the amount of debt one can accumulate. Debt itself is a stressful aspect of life we all would like to avoid. It’s inevitable for most of us, and especially for us who are college students. It would be exasperating for me if I relied on a team or athlete’s performance to help pay my tuition.
There is definitely a high-risk, high-reward factor that goes into gambling; if someone becomes too reliant on their bets for income, they are essentially betting their life away in a downward spiral of debt.
Unfortunately, some of the joy I get from watching sports has waned due to the superfluous amount of sportsbook advertisings I have seen lately. With the Super Bowl around the corner, we will continue to see more ads from sportsbooks. There isn’t anything I can do to sidestep the advertisements, and it won’t stop me from watching sports altogether.
I’m not discouraging any Super Bowl bets, though; I’m just saying be cautious. For those who are buying into the over or under or are simply watching the game for pure entertainment, it is beneficial to at least be aware of the dangers that sportsbooks could cause if you’re not careful about your money. In an era where advertising itself has now been integrated into apps and into our pockets, it is easier for us to know of and learn about sportsbooks through advertisements without necessarily knowing what consequences they possess.