Out of Luck

Not too long ago, Americans couldn’t legally bet on sports in most places outside Nevada. Now it’s nearly impossible to watch sports such as baseball, football, or basketball without seeing ads for online sports betting apps like FanDuel and DraftKings.

Since the Supreme Court struck down a sports betting ban in 2018, such sites have proliferated, earning billions of dollars from people who give little thought to placing wagers of $10 or $25 at a time on their phones.

Gambling becoming so accessible has led to a rise in gambling addiction among young people, experts say, with many young gamblers skirting rules that are supposed to limit the action to people over 21 (or 18 in a few states).

Before 2018, Americans couldn’t legally bet on sports in most places outside Nevada. Now it’s nearly impossible to watch sports without seeing ads for online sports betting apps like FanDuel and DraftKings.

The Supreme Court struck down a sports betting ban in 2018. Since then sports betting sites have boomed. They earn billions of dollars from people who give little thought to placing wagers of $10 or $25 at a time on their phones.

The rise in sports betting apps has now made gambling easily accessible. It has led to a rise in gambling addiction among young people, experts say, with many young gamblers avoiding rules that are supposed to limit the action to people over 21 (or 18 in a few states).

“The idea that on one bet, you could win $100 . . . that’s a lot of money to an 18-year-old,” says Rob Minnick, who was 18 when he started betting on fantasy sports with friends in New Jersey in 2017. After the Supreme Court ruling, Minnick started betting more frequently, spending as much as six to eight hours gambling per day. Starting with sports like basketball, football, and baseball, he then branched out to other forms of gambling including online casino games. Now 25 and in recovery for a gambling addiction, he says he went into bankruptcy six times in six years from betting.

“I viewed [gambling] as part of my identity,” he says. “It was like each new bet was a way of proving that I was worth something.”

“The idea that on one bet, you could win $100 . . . that’s a lot of money to an 18-year-old,” says Rob Minnick, who was 18 when he started betting on fantasy sports with friends in New Jersey in 2017. After the Supreme Court ruling, Minnick started betting more frequently. He would spend as much as six to eight hours gambling per day. Starting with sports like basketball, football, and baseball, he then branched out to other forms of gambling including online casino games. Now 25, he is in recovery for a gambling addiction. He says his betting caused him to go into bankruptcy six times in six years.

“I viewed [gambling] as part of my identity,” he says. “It was like each new bet was a way of proving that I was worth something.”

For decades, sports betting was illegal in most of the nation. In 1992, Congress passed a law that prohibited states from legalizing it, though it didn’t ban sports betting outright. (Lawmakers, for example, granted an exemption to Nevada—home to Las Vegas, the nation’s gambling mecca—which has allowed sports betting since 1931.)

But in 2014, New Jersey, seeking to legalize sports betting, challenged the federal law on the grounds that it violated states’ rights as outlined in the 10th Amendment of the Constitution. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (N.C.A.A.) and several professional sports leagues then sued New Jersey, arguing that sports wagering could influence players and coaches to change games’ outcomes to win bets (see “Sports Betting Scandals,” below). The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which sided with New Jersey and struck down the law in May 2018. “A more direct affront to state sovereignty is not easy to imagine,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.

After the Supreme Court ruling, states across the nation rapidly legalized sports betting. Lobbyists working for the biggest sports gambling companies such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM wooed state lawmakers with promises of the tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue states could expect to earn if they legalized bets on games. Supporters of legalization argued that Americans were betting illegally anyway, placing wagers with bookmakers often connected to organized crime, so it would be better to bring the industry out of the shadows and regulate it.

Today 39* states and Washington, D.C., have legalized sports gambling, with 30 of those states offering online wagering. Professional sports leagues such as the N.B.A., the N.F.L., and M.L.B., which had fought against the legalization of sports betting for decades, have now embraced it. Almost every major league is sponsored by a sports betting company.

For decades, sports betting was illegal in most of the nation. In 1992, Congress passed a law that prohibited states from legalizing it. The law, however, did not outright ban sports betting. Lawmakers, for example, granted an exemption to Nevada—home to Las Vegas, the nation’s gambling mecca. Sports betting has been allowed there since 1931.

But in 2014, New Jersey wanted to legalize sports betting. A challenge was made to the federal law on the grounds that it violated states’ rights as outlined in the 10th Amendment of the Constitution. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (N.C.A.A.) and several professional sports leagues then sued New Jersey. They argued that sports betting could influence players and coaches to change games’ outcomes to win bets (see “Sports Betting Scandals,” below). The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The court sided with New Jersey and struck down the law in May 2018. “A more direct affront to state sovereignty is not easy to imagine,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.

After the Supreme Court ruling, states across the nation rapidly legalized sports betting. Lobbyists working for the biggest sports gambling companies such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM pursued state lawmakers. They pointed out the tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue states could expect to earn if they legalized bets on games. Supporters of legalization argued that Americans were betting illegally anyway. Bets were placed with bookmakers often connected to organized crime, so it would be better to bring the industry out of the shadows and regulate it.

Today 39* states and Washington, D.C., have legalized sports gambling. Thirty of those states offering online wagering. For decades, professional sports leagues such as the N.B.A., the N.F.L., and M.L.B., fought against the legalization of sports betting. Now they have embraced it and almost every major league is sponsored by a sports betting company.

If it feels like sports gambling is everywhere today, that’s because it is. In 2023, Americans wagered a record $120 billion on sports, a nearly 30 percent increase from the previous year. One recent study found that pro basketball and hockey viewers are subject to about three gambling ads a minute.

The normalization of sports betting across America has trickled down to young people, whose still-developing brains can put them at a higher risk for addiction, experts say.

“The last part of the brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex, which governs risk and decision making,” says Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. “It can easily be hijacked by the excitement [and] potential for money” that are a part of sports betting.

There are no firm statistics on how many high school students are betting on sports, but the National Council on Problem Gambling found in one study that 60 to 80 percent report having gambled in the last year. Another, by the N.C.A.A., found that 58 percent of 18- to 22-year-olds have bet on sports at least once, and 16 percent have engaged in “risky behaviors,” such as betting a few times per week or betting more than $50.

If it feels like sports gambling is everywhere today, that’s because it is. In 2023, Americans wagered a record $120 billion on sports. It was a nearly 30 percent increase from the previous year. One recent study found that pro basketball and hockey viewers are subject to about three gambling ads a minute.

The normalization of sports betting across America has trickled down to young people, whose still-developing brains can put them at a higher risk for addiction, experts say.

“The last part of the brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex, which governs risk and decision making,” says Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. “It can easily be hijacked by the excitement [and] potential for money” that are a part of sports betting.

There are no firm statistics on how many high school students are betting on sports. The National Council on Problem Gambling found in one study that 60 to 80 percent report having gambled in the last year. Another, by the N.C.A.A., found that 58 percent of 18- to 22-year-olds have bet on sports at least once. The study also found that 16 percent have engaged in “risky behaviors,” such as betting a few times per week or betting more than $50.

Minnick, the recovering gambler, says that when he was betting heavily, he had to be jolted out of his daily life to see how much gambling had overtaken it. He was on a trip to Paris in February 2022 when, “about an hour in, I was in the bathroom playing blackjack [on my phone]. . . I just wanted to be gambling.” It was only then, he says, when he realized he was missing out on the trip, that he started to question his gambling habit. “I thought, ‘Why am I actually doing this?’”

John**, 18, started sports betting when he was a junior at an Illinois high school—mostly on college basketball, and occasionally on N.F.L. and N.H.L. games.

The legal age to bet on sports in Illinois is 21, but John was able to use his mom’s DraftKings account to place bets, and later, betting apps that operate in a legal gray area. His typical bets ranged from $50 to $200.

He says at his school, “everyone you know, especially anyone who’s into football or into sports,” bets on games. “There’s a whole culture around it in high schools right now.”

John’s experience is an increasingly common one.

Minnick, the recovering gambler, says he had to be jolted out of his daily life to see how much gambling had overtaken it. He was on a trip to Paris in February 2022 when, “about an hour in, I was in the bathroom playing blackjack [on my phone] . . . I just wanted to be gambling.” He realized he was missing out on the trip, and he started to question his gambling habit. “I thought, ‘Why am I actually doing this?’”

John**, 18, started sports betting when he was a junior at an Illinois high school. He bet mostly on college basketball, and occasionally on N.F.L. and N.H.L. games.

The legal age to bet on sports in Illinois is 21, but John was able to use his mom’s DraftKings account to place bets. He later used  betting apps that operate in a legal gray area. His typical bets ranged from $50 to $200.

He says at his school, “everyone you know, especially anyone who’s into football or into sports,” bets on games. “There’s a whole culture around it in high schools right now.”

John’s experience is an increasingly common one.

The accessibility and ease of sports betting apps offer more opportunities for losing money. Users can bet on a wide range of sports and even on individual players’ actions within a game.

“There’s an almost infinite number of bettable events within a game or within a particular player’s performance,” Whyte says. “There’s a lot more risk.”

Across the country, concerns about young people gambling have contributed to an increase in calls to gambling helplines since the legalization of sports betting.

The National Council on Problem Gambling saw a roughly 45 percent jump in calls to its helpline between 2021 and 2022. Text and chat outreach has been growing faster than phone calls, Whyte says, adding, “There’s some evidence that the huge spike we’ve seen in helpline contacts is driven by younger users.”

And in New Jersey, where the push for sports betting legalization began, helpline calls have risen 277 percent since the state legalized gambling in 2018. In 2023, 35 percent of calls were from people under 25 or their parents or siblings.

Minnick now makes videos sharing his story and resources for those who might need help. He’s concerned that young people view sports betting as a way to make or invest money.

“I’m really just trying to help a younger version of myself,” he says. Young people need “prior education about the reality of gambling that’s true and honest, and not like what we see in the commercials.”

John says he’s no longer betting for that very reason.

“I realized, you’re really just handing money to the rich people” who run the gambling apps, he says. “The house eventually wins overall, no matter what you do.”

The accessibility and ease of sports betting apps offer more opportunities for losing money. Not only can users bet on a wide range of sports, they can also bet on individual players’ actions within a game.

“There’s an almost infinite number of bettable events within a game or within a particular player’s performance,” Whyte says. “There’s a lot more risk.”

Since the legalization of sports betting, concerns about young people gambling have led to an increase in calls to gambling helplines.

The National Council on Problem Gambling saw a roughly 45 percent jump in calls to its helpline between 2021 and 2022. Text and chat outreach has been growing faster than phone calls, Whyte says, adding, “There’s some evidence that the huge spike we’ve seen in helpline contacts is driven by younger users.”

Helpline calls have risen 277 percent in New Jersey since the state legalized gambling in 2018. In 2023, 35 percent of calls were from people under 25 or their parents or siblings.

Minnick now makes videos sharing his story and resources for those who might need help. He’s concerned that young people view sports betting as a way to make or invest money.

“I’m really just trying to help a younger version of myself,” he says. Young people need “prior education about the reality of gambling that’s true and honest, and not like what we see in the commercials.”

John says he’s no longer betting for that very reason.

“I realized, you’re really just handing money to the rich people” who run the gambling apps, he says. “The house eventually wins overall, no matter what you do.”

^{*Missouri legalized sports betting in 2024, but has until December 1, 2025, to roll it out.}

^{**John is not his real name; he wished to remain anonymous since sports betting in Illinois is illegal for those under 21.}

^{*Missouri legalized sports betting in 2024, but has until December 1, 2025, to roll it out.}

^{**John is not his real name; he wished to remain anonymous since sports betting in Illinois is illegal for those under 21.}

With reporting by Eric Lipton and Kenneth P. Vogel of The New York Times.

With reporting by Eric Lipton and Kenneth P. Vogel of The New York Times.