At Super Bowl, Sports Betting will Continue To Dominate, Despite Addiction Risks
A March Madness pool at the workplace. Maybe an unique trip to Vegas to enjoy baseball. A Kentucky Derby party. Fantasy football. Gambling on sports was irregular, frequently informal - little potatoes.
Then in 2018, the floodgates opened. That's when the Supreme Court struck down an across the country restriction on sports wagering. Since then, 38 states have actually legislated some type of betting on sports.
As the Super Bowl launches with a ridiculous kicking contest in between Eli and Peyton Manning sponsored by the sportsbook FanDuel - which, naturally, you can wager on - audiences are primed to see a lot more focus on sports wagering in the years ahead.
"Throughout the last 10 or 15 years it's gradually advanced to the point where it's a routine part of our society now," said Eric Esterline, the director of sports journalism and interaction at the University of Florida. "And the technology has actually made it more available to the basic public regularly."
Yet in spite of the mix of slapstick farce and glitzy celeb cameos in the inescapable TV ads for sportsbooks, the rise of these apps has a darker side. The simple access to legal gaming seems to be fueling an increase in addiction, with some addiction therapists reporting getting more calls for help than ever.
"I'm extremely worried about the general public health impacts of this boost in legalized sports wagering. I think it's going to get even worse before it gets any much better," stated Jesse Dallery, Ph.D, a teacher of psychology at UF and specialist on addiction. "Eventually I think there will be some backlash as folks acknowledge they're being exploited by these companies."
Crafted similar to slot machines in a gambling establishment, sportsbooks apps produce the perfect circumstance for hacking our brains, Dallery stated.
A March Madness pool at the workplace. Maybe an unique trip to Vegas to enjoy baseball. A Kentucky Derby party. Fantasy football. Gambling on sports was irregular, frequently informal - little potatoes.
Then in 2018, the floodgates opened. That's when the Supreme Court struck down an across the country restriction on sports wagering. Since then, 38 states have actually legislated some type of betting on sports.
As the Super Bowl launches with a ridiculous kicking contest in between Eli and Peyton Manning sponsored by the sportsbook FanDuel - which, naturally, you can wager on - audiences are primed to see a lot more focus on sports wagering in the years ahead.
"Throughout the last 10 or 15 years it's gradually advanced to the point where it's a routine part of our society now," said Eric Esterline, the director of sports journalism and interaction at the University of Florida. "And the technology has actually made it more available to the basic public regularly."
Yet in spite of the mix of slapstick farce and glitzy celeb cameos in the inescapable TV ads for sportsbooks, the rise of these apps has a darker side. The simple access to legal gaming seems to be fueling an increase in addiction, with some addiction therapists reporting getting more calls for help than ever.
"I'm extremely worried about the general public health impacts of this boost in legalized sports wagering. I think it's going to get even worse before it gets any much better," stated Jesse Dallery, Ph.D, a teacher of psychology at UF and specialist on addiction. "Eventually I think there will be some backlash as folks acknowledge they're being exploited by these companies."
Crafted similar to slot machines in a gambling establishment, sportsbooks apps produce the perfect circumstance for hacking our brains, Dallery stated.