In 2025, Americans have legally and illegally bet over 24 billion dollars on the Super Bowl and other sporting events. This number drastically increases annually as more Americans learn about online gambling and sports betting. The easy accessibility and popularity of the internet have led many Americans to invest money in gambling. Sports betting allows people to bet on anything sports-related, and some websites even allow people to bet on players outside of games. The rise of online gambling can be credited to many things, such as celebrities promoting these websites and many ads during sporting events like the Super Bowl and NBA games.
“The fact that it’s so accessible and you see all the pretty sides of it, especially on social media, [there are] people who make a lot of money off of it, and then you have their young peers or followers seeing them do that,” American History teacher Pablo Lopez said.
The accessibility of social media without age restrictions allows anybody to post and watch videos about online gambling. This causes many people to join in due to the popularity of winners earning large sums of money. Around 8% of gamblers are under the age of 18, and the start of their gambling stems from what they see online, causing them to gamble irresponsibly.
“The biggest problem is financial responsibility. You’re always taking a chance no matter what, no matter how good your odds are,” Lopez said. “There’s a saying in casinos, ‘the house always wins.’”
Many people under 18 don’t work or have a job, meaning they don’t understand how valuable and hard it is to earn money and how money lost in gambling has little to no chance of coming back.
Another type of gambling that has risen in popularity quickly is sports betting.
An article from CNBC states, “Americans are expected to bet almost $1.4 billion on the Super Bowl via legal sportsbooks… That would be a record for wagers on the big game.”
Sports betting has already become a staple in many households as people find it easy to access and gamble. Every year, more and more people bet more on the big game and take a chance to win thousands of dollars or lose it all.
“It’s my brother who sports bets, but he does it in limited amounts, so it doesn’t affect us as much,” freshman Shourya Bodla said.
Betting smaller amounts of money is more risk-free than betting larger amounts of money. Betting safely and smartly will reduce losses and mental stress.
Many game developers have realized that they could implement online gambling into their games, but change the money into items in-game to attract people to their games.
“You’re pouring in a certain amount of money to try to have a chance of getting an outcome, which you know, even though it is not a monetary incentive,” math teacher Michael Zheng said.
Games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Starrail tend to target a younger audience however, both games have many options to roll for items ranging from high ranks (usually expensive) to low ranks (low-cost) but it’s all just a gamble.
In today’s society, online gambling and sports betting are gaining traction and are a source of potential problems. However, there are a few things society could do to minimize this problem and restrict access to people under 18.
An article from the New York Times states, “We need common-sense regulations that address gambling as not just a financial but also a public health issue. In Europe, it is more common to see partial limits on advertising, such as restricting sports celebrity endorsements or stadium advertising”.
Gambling can also cause many mental issues for people. An article from The Mayo Clinic states, “Gambling can stimulate the brain’s reward system much like drugs or alcohol can, leading to addiction. If you have a problem with compulsive gambling, you may continually chase bets that lead to losses, use up savings, and create debt.”
The addictive nature behind gambling and the physiological influence it has can easily cause an addiction or influence a person’s feelings and emotions which is dangerous for adolescents.
In the modern age of technology, online gambling and sports betting have changed society in many ways, mostly negative. Sports betting has risen to new heights with Americans betting billions on sporting events. Online gambling has also swept the country, with many people being able to gamble from the comfort of their homes, and though many security measures were put into place to stop underage gambling in person, they have been removed with online gambling.
