The Problem With Sports Gambling

170 snips

Oct 31, 2025

Jonathan Cohen, an author and researcher on gambling policy, dives into the alarming impact of legalized sports betting on society. He discusses the recent FBI investigation and the shocking rise in financial issues, particularly for young men, as gambling becomes more enticing and accessible. Cohen shares a personal story about addiction and emphasizes how betting has drastically altered the fan experience. He suggests that while gambling can be fun, stricter regulations are needed to prioritize safety and protect vulnerable individuals from its harms.

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INSIGHT

Gambling Reshaped Sports And Culture

Legalized sports betting has transformed sports culture and economics, enriching leagues and media while raising serious harms.
Derek Thompson frames the issue as both enjoyable and dangerous, lacking simple moral clarity.

INSIGHT

Evidence Shows Widespread Financial Harm

Empirical studies link post-2018 legalization to worse financial outcomes like higher bankruptcies and delinquencies.
Young men show particularly high rates of gambling-related problems, signaling population-level harms.

INSIGHT

New Markets Create New Integrity Risks

Modern betting markets (player props, micro bets) create novel integrity risks by enabling wagers on tiny, individual outcomes.
These markets are technologically enabled and allow large, fast bets from phones, increasing temptation and fraud opportunities.

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Last week, an FBI investigation into gambling led to the arrest of several prominent basketball stars, raising questions about the state of legalized sports betting, which has enriched professional sports and sports media.

The problems with sports gambling extend far beyond the integrity of the game. A 2024 working paper from economists at UCLA, Harvard, and USC found that states that legalized sports gambling after the 2018 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court saw “a substantial increase in average bankruptcy rates, debt sent to collections, use of debt consolidation loans, and auto loan delinquencies. We also find that financial institutions respond to the reduced creditworthiness of consumers by restricting access to credit.” A separate analysis found that nearly one in five men aged 18-24 is on the spectrum of having a gambling problem.

There’s no question that sports betting has taken over sports. It’s all over ESPN, all over my favorite sports podcasts. This podcast is a part of The Ringer Podcast Network, which has close relationships with the sports book FanDuel and has several shows devoted to gambling. I listen to them. Quite a lot, actually.

It would be easier for me as the host of this episode if my position on gambling had the clarity of pure outrage. If I thought that gambling was a pure vice, a mere nuisance, and a total drag, I would say: Let’s just be done with it. On the opposite end, if I thought that legalized sports gambling posed no risk to bettors, didn’t threaten the integrity of professional sports, and represented an obvious improvement to the previous regime of black-market betting, I’d say: Ignore these moralizing bozos and place your 15-part parlay.

The trouble is that I don’t have the advantage of clear outrage on this issue. I think that sports gambling is fun. And I think that it threatens the integrity of professional sports. And I think that it ruins some people’s lives.

Today’s guest is Jonathan Cohen, the author of 'Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling.' Like me, Jon is worried about the effect that legal sports gambling is having. Also like me, he sometimes bets on sports. Also like me, he listens to Ringer podcasts.

If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Jonathan Cohen

Producers: Devon Baroldi

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