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Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling

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Jonathan D. Cohen

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“The industry’s goal has been to cultivate a second-screen experience. Companies want gamblers to get into the habit of keeping their sportsbook app open while they watch a game, with betting an expected part of the sports viewing experience. Many ads, then, show betting app interfaces on phones or feature someone holding their cell phone while watching a game, modeling the behavior sportsbooks want to inculcate.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“Sportsbook logos are emblazoned everywhere, from billboards to trash cans to sports arenas. At Fenway Park, a half mile from PHAI’s office, the historic Green Monster left field wall is adorned with a BetMGM logo, and DraftKings and Fanatics logos are visible from home plate. These ads ensure that branding for all three companies is visible throughout the game, not just during the commercial breaks. Sports media companies, too, are invariably sponsored by sportsbooks, if they do not have a sportsbook of their own, with gambling content integrated into news and analysis. Ads are just as easy to find online, with 2.1 million digital advertising units in 2023, according to the AGA. Many of these are on social media, where for some people gambling is inescapable. Numerous bettors described feeds inundated with gambling influencers, both paid advertisements and so-called gambling influencers touting their expert picks and big parlay wins. The algorithm is relentless, picking up on the fact that someone is interested in betting content and serving them a steady diet of it. This situation is especially challenging if someone wants to take a break from gambling, as it can prove difficult to reprogram the algorithm entirely.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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“On TV and online, companies have turned to celebrity spokespeople to help normalize sports gambling. On the surface, the selection of spokesmen and they are almost all men may seem unconventional: comedian and actor Kevin Hart for DraftKings, actor and singer Jamie Foxx for BetMGM, and actor and comedian J. B. Smoove for Caesars. After all, none have any post-secondary athletic credentials. The former DraftKings employee believes these spokesmen were chosen to make sports betting feel accessible to casual fans, rather than someone already obsessed with sports or gambling.”

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“While sportsbooks contract with their fair share of athletes from active players like LeBron James to recent retirees like Rob Gronkowski to old-timers like Charles Barkley they select actors and comedians in an attempt to strike a broader appeal. It likely comes as no coincidence that Hart, Smoove, and Foxx and many of the former athletes are Black. African Americans are more likely to have a sports betting account, more likely to check their account at least daily, and twice as likely to say they typically bet more than $100.”

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“Tonko introduced the Betting on Our Future Act, which proposes a ban on sports betting ads on television, radio, and the internet. The bill is intentionally modeled on the 1969 legislation that prohibited most cigarette advertising. It comes in response to what Tonko called “a public health crisis” created by “predatory promotions.” By offering generous bonuses and so-called “risk free” or “no sweat” bets, Tonko alleged, the industry is seeking to “hook and retain a new generation.” “Instead of Joe Camel, now we’ve replaced that with celebrity spokespeople.”

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“In April 2021, forty-year-old Luke Ashton died by suicide after sinking £18,000 into debt, primarily through gambling with Betfair, a part of Flutter. Ashton had utilized numerous RG [Responsible Gaming] tools, including self-exclusion and deposit limits. But in the ten weeks prior to his death, he ramped up his gambling. In March 2021, he made 1,229 bets and deposited £2,500 into his account. Ashton received eight generic RG emails from Betfair, whose algorithm labeled him “low risk” for problem gambling. In a landmark move, the coroner listed gambling disorder as a cause of death, noted that RG tools are “inadequate” for protecting gamblers, and castigated the company for not adopting practices that would meaningfully prevent harm.”

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“The SAFE Bet Act would reenact a ban on sports betting but create a process whereby states can apply to the Department of Justice to set up sports betting operations, offering federal oversight to ensure states have sufficient consumer protection regulations in place. The “minimum federal standards” called for in the bill fall across three categories. First, advertising, banning certain ad content such as bonus offers and placing limits on when gambling ads can run, including during live sporting events. Second, affordability, banning credit card deposits, requiring affordability checks for anyone making a large wager, and banning sportsbooks from accepting more than five deposits from a customer over a twenty-four-hour period. Third, artificial intelligence, banning the use of AI to track players’ gambling or create individualized promotions.”

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“In 2022, a New York Times investigation uncovered at least eight campuses that had reached partnerships with gambling companies, including the University of Colorado Boulder, where every download of the PointsBet app using the university’s promotional code netted the school $30 after the customer placed their first bet.”

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“Gambling companies had promised sports betting as a tax revenue bonanza and by converting players from the illegal market, a product that would do little to reshape the total amount spent on gambling. “We’re starting to see policymakers start to really push back on all of the false promises that they were once sold,” Brianne Doura-Schawohl explained.”

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Book:Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
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