After the supreme court ruled the legalization of sports betting to be left up to the states in 2018, 38 states and the District of Columbia have legalized it. While Georgia isn’t one of them, the industry has still grown exponentially going from being valued at $400 million in 2018 to $13.71 billion in 2024

This has especially influenced younger generations to participate in low-level sports betting, such as fantasy leagues, March Madness brackets or even parlay bets, where specific statistics are being wagered in a game. Junior Ben Bolland* said that the growth of the industry has been evident when looking at the involvement of teenagers and the ease of betting

“I think more younger kids are coming into sports betting because they think it’s more acceptable,” Bolland said. “It’s not actually going to a casino or spending big time money, it’s putting $5 on players, and they think that’s a fun, simple way to do sports betting and make some money.”

The NFL has seen a 20% increase in viewers since 2017. Sophomore Harrison Camry* has seen this phenomenon, as he began sports gambling as a way to get more engaged in games

“I feel like gambling on games has changed the way fans watch the games because, if you gamble on a team or a player that you wouldn’t normally watch, I feel like it increases viewership because you wouldn’t normally watch it,” Camry said. “You can watch it for your bet to see if the player hits your bet or not.”

The legalization of betting in many states has led to globalization of many diverse sports games. Psychology teacher Andrew Copeland has seen betting among students involving countries across the globe.

“I’ve heard of kids betting on Egyptian soccer at eight o’clock in the morning,” Copeland said.

Previously, sports leagues have attempted to separate themselves from betting companies. In the past few years, direct partnerships between leagues and sportsbook companies have grown in popularity; these deals alone are worth billions of dollars.

“Sports leagues have almost always taken an absolute position against gambling,” Copeland said. “It’s why Pete Rose wasn’t in the Hall of Fame, he got caught gambling. Now professional leagues have tried to have their cake and eat it too. They want to be partners with these gambling companies. But then how do you keep that out of your players? There’s a chance it gets more widespread and people will start to lose faith in the validity of sports.”

With the rise of the betting industry, players and coaches have sought to take advantage of this opportunity. Since 2018, more than 23 players and coaches – from a variety of sports – have been suspended or banned from professional leagues due to gambling violations. Camry said these riggings of games have made some watchers and gamblers lose trust in sports.

“There’s always been a thing over sports: is it rigged or not for certain teams or players,” Camry said. “Then [scandals] come out and you never know what players could be betting or not. It has taken some of the fun from watching sports.”

Bolland is aware of the negative effects of sports gambling, but believes people are within their rights to choose how they want to spend their money and interact with sports.

“Honestly, I think [younger people getting involved in gambling] is a bad thing, but people can do what they want with their money,” Bolland said. “It’s all up to them at the end of the day, but starting younger is definitely bad.”

Copeland has seen an increase in gambling across his students and believes starting at such a young age can lead to more serious issues with addiction in the future.

“I think we’re going to see a generation of people that might have gambling issues,” Copeland said. “You might see an uptick of people going to gamblers anonymously. Some people will get into serious financial problems because that’s how they’re learning to experience watching sports. You’re filtering that through teenage minds that this is how I enjoy the sport because they now have money on it. Once that’s your way of viewing the world it’s hard to go back.”

*Ben Bolland is an anonymous source

*Harrison Daily is an anonymous source