You can bet on it – and on most everything else
Sports betting. Once bookies and loan sharks ruled an illegal underground gambling world. Now all it takes is a click on your phone or computer app.
| 30 Jan 2025 | 11:24
A local FanDuel user opens the sports betting app on his phone. Photo provided.
A live, in-game screenshot of a bet Brett placed on Sunday’s NFC Championship Game
(Washington at Philadelphia). This bet was a parlay, in which several things had to happen for him to make money. He bet the over on points, which was 47.5, meaning that at least 48 combined points had to be scored in the game. The game total was 78. The second leg of the parlay was for Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley to rush for at least 100 yards. He did.The third leg of the parlay was for Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts to throw for at least 175 passing yards. He did. The fourth leg of the parlay was for Washington’s Jayden Daniels to throw for at least 225 yards. He did. The fifth leg of the parlay was for Barkley to score at least one touchdown. He did. By game’s end, all five legs of his parlay hit. He wagered $10 and won $60, for a profit of $50.
(Washington at Philadelphia). This bet was a parlay, in which several things had to happen for him to make money. He bet the over on points, which was 47.5, meaning that at least 48 combined points had to be scored in the game. The game total was 78. The second leg of the parlay was for Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley to rush for at least 100 yards. He did.The third leg of the parlay was for Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts to throw for at least 175 passing yards. He did. The fourth leg of the parlay was for Washington’s Jayden Daniels to throw for at least 225 yards. He did. The fifth leg of the parlay was for Barkley to score at least one touchdown. He did. By game’s end, all five legs of his parlay hit. He wagered $10 and won $60, for a profit of $50.
Americans will wager more than $23 billion on this year’s Super Bowl, according to estimates from the American Gambling Association.
Last year, $16 billion was bet. (For comparisons, $15.9 billion was spent on political advertising for the 2024 presidential election.)
Since New Jersey became the first state to allow online sports betting in 2018, the industry has taken off nationwide. Now 31 states allow residents to gamble on sports using apps such as FanDuel and DraftKings.
While the industry provides large tax revenues for states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, online gambling has revolutionized the sports watching experience.
In some cases, it’s no longer about rooting for your favorite team; it’s how you can wager on specific plays within the game.
‘I was rich for a 17-year-old kid’
Here are a number of stories from young men who speak to the allure and risks associated with online sports betting.
“My parents grew up in a time when gambling was not legal,” said Wesley, a 23-year-old college student who spoke to us on the condition that we not divulge his real name and the Sussex County town where he lives.
“When I was 17, online sports betting was new in New Jersey, and I told my dad my friends and I wanted to put like $10 on a game. Since you need to be 21 to have an online betting account, he innocently opened a DraftKings account in his name, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.
“I thought I knew everything about sports so why not make money off of it? My first bet was on Super Bowl LIII between the Rams and Patriots. I bet on Sony Michel to score a touchdown. I think I won $60 or $70 on that bet. That turned into betting every night because the NBA and college basketball games were always on.
“I remember playing high school basketball and I would make a parlay bet (multiple bets combined into one wager) before my games, go play and check on my bets afterward. The biggest negative for me was that I started winning early, especially with college basketball. I won and it was easy.
“I was rich for a 17-year-old kid.”
As he kept winning, Wesley began betting more and more. Because the account was in his father’s name, he was unable to transfer his winnings into his bank account. As a result, he told his parents the extent to which he was betting. There was $2,500 in the account.
“At that point, I think my dad was a little worried,” Wesley said. “He thought it would be harmless fun with my friends. He and my mom let me keep the money but warned that I needed to watch myself. I began to make fewer bets as my winning streak ran out.”
‘Chasing bets’
When he turned 21, he opened an online account in his name and began winning again.
He recalls betting more than $1,000 on NFL games and, thanks to live betting, he began “chasing his bets” - continuing to gamble, often with increased wagers, after a sequence of losses.
“With live betting, I would wait until games started and then decide what to bet on. For example, (NBA player) Jason Tatum is expected to score 30 points in that night’s basketball game but only scored two in the first quarter. I know he is good and will take a lot of shots so I will bet on him reaching 30, and if he does, I will make more money betting on him to hit 30 after the game started than I would have if I bet pregame because the odds changed dramatically due to his low scoring first quarter. It is that sort of thing, that micro or in-game betting, that gets people in trouble the most.”
By the end of 2024, he was losing money. So much that he came clean to his girlfriend and eventually his parents.
He never touched his savings and said he has stopped betting.
“I still watch sports and will always love sports, but I am not proud of myself,” he said. “I went from being super into my teams to betting on games I had no business even paying attention to.”
‘Betting has changed everything’
A pair of 20-year-old friends from Orange County, N.Y., again speaking on the condition of anonymity and requesting that their hometowns not be divulged, say their viewing habits have changed dramatically since online betting came into their lives.
Kevin, a fan of the Mets and New York Rangers, watches sports more now than ever.
“My friends are into it,” he said. “We went from almost never watching sports to now my friends don’t want to do it any other way unless they can watch a million different games at once.
“Betting has totally changed everything. It makes watching sports more interesting because we root for different things and specific stats that we would otherwise barely pay attention to.
“In hockey, the pregame line on the app may be 34 saves and less than two goals given up for the goalie. That is something to bet on and you can keep putting in more bets as the game goes on and stat lines change. Since I am not 21, I often give one of my friends $10 and we form a parlay together.”
The allure of parlay bets is that because there are more moving parts to the bet, the odds of winning are lower, making the payout bigger. They are also more difficult to win.
Kevin’s father said the betting aspect of sports has made his son more interested in watching sports.
“He and his friends grew up playing sports, but they were never diehard fans,” said Jeff, also speaking under an assumed name. “With the betting, they are watching the games closely because they make those parlay(s).
“Thankfully, and I say this in the best way possible, my son is cheap and does not like parting with his money. We talk and I do not have concerns that he will get himself in over his head.”
Kevin’s friend, Brett, a junior in college, often finds himself rooting against his favorite football team in favor of the bets he has placed.
“Since I am not 21, my dad opened a DraftKings account and he bets every now and then, but I go in and do my own thing,” he said.
“I grew up a diehard Jets fan because of my dad, but the reality is the Jets were a bust this year, so I often found myself betting against the Jets and rooting for the team I had money on.
“If it came down to my favorite team winning or winning a bet, I lean more toward the money aspect of it.”
Emerging public health issue
The 24/7 gambling helpline overseen by New Jersey’s Council on Compulsive Gambling has seen a 277 percent increase in calls since online sports betting was permitted in 2018.
“I would consider it a public health issue, especially among young men,” said Luis Del Orbe, interim executive director of the council.
Del Orbe hosted a town hall meeting on the topic of problem gambling last summer at the West Milford Township Library.
Like his counterpart in New Jersey, Josh Ercole, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, said calls to its helpline have increased since online sports and casino gambling came started there in May 2019.
“Instead of just betting on a game or the point spread with friends or even a bookie like in the old days, you can log onto an app on your phone and different betting options are popping up throughout the game or games you are watching and you can make a ton of bets and before long it can become a recipe for disaster,” he said.
“In 2019, we had about 1,100 calls to the helpline. Last year, we had 2,700 calls for help.
“Do we think there are 2,700 people out there struggling?” he added. “Absolutely not. There are a lot more who aren’t making a phone call.”
Del Orbe and Ercole stressed that their organizations do not take a stance on gambling or sports betting. Rather, their role is to assist those who become problem gamblers.
When someone calls the helplines, they make sure the person is safe, then they provide information and resources, such as information on Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
An increasing percentage of the callers are mothers of teenaged boys who are concerned about their sons, they said.
“Gambling on sports is nothing new,” said Del Orbe, a resident of West Milford. “However, a generation is growing up with it being legal and out in the open. When you include fantasy sports, many more are seeing sports as a way to make money instead as a form of entertainment.”
‘We are taking money from some people who are sick and not giving them the resources to get better’
As co-host of the top-rated “Boomer and Carton” morning radio show, which ran on WFAN in New York from 2007 to 2017, Craig Carton regularly opined on all things gambling, from sports to blackjack. The show, which was simulcast on CBS Sports Network, also featured former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason.
A compulsive gambler, Carton hid his condition from friends, family and co-workers until the walls closed in on him. He was arrested in 2017 for securities and wire fraud related to covering his debts.
After serving a year in prison, he was released to home confinement in 2020 and completed his sentence in 2021.
Today, he is in recovery and can be seen nationwide on the weekday morning program “Breakfast Ball” on Fox Sports 1.
“This is certainly a public health issue, and the sad thing is that it’s not just happening on college campuses,” said Carton, who also hosts a Saturday morning radio show on WFAN devoted to helping compulsive gamblers.
“I counsel a group of high school kids and their families, and these immature kids who have sports betting on the brain due to the cultural shift and legalization have loan sharks and bookies and they are betting every day of the week. Then one day they wake up and they are thousands of dollars in debt and don’t know how to pay it off. They borrow money and go down a bad road.
“This is not about demonizing gambling because for most people, placing a bet simply adds excitement to an experience,” Carton added. “However, one of the issues I have is that we are raising billions of dollars in tax revenue and none of it is earmarked toward creating a place where people can get help.
“We are taking money from some people who are sick and not giving them the resources to get better and that to me is a shame.”
“If it came down to my favorite team winning or winning a bet, I lean more toward the money aspect of it.” - a college junior from Orange County, N.Y.