Do you know the spread of every game? Can you watch sports without having any action on it? Maybe you run a content mill and instead of paying your employees, you have a DraftKings account betting with your business PayPal to feed your addiction?
If you’re like me, gambling and sports betting are in your blood, but are the ads becoming too much? Don’t get me wrong, I love having action on any game I watch, hell, I even laid 88 points on Baylor’s Women’s College Basketball when Britney Griner attended. The big question is whether betting is taking over the game and influencing young fans.
The Influence of Sports Betting Ads
Once again, I love betting on sports. You may think I am crazy when I say I’ve bet on the color of the next car to drive by when I’m hanging out with my degenerate friends. My friends and I bet on wrestling’s Royal Rumble, basically, if you can find a way to bet it, I’m in! So the act of gambling is not the issue I have.
The issue is the constant commercials and advertisements for all the various sports books. Young fans are being influenced by their favorite celebrities and athletes promoting sports betting. Of course, everyone knows you must be the legal age of 21 to place bets of any kind, but isn’t this a form of grooming?
If you’re casually watching TV or your favorite streaming service, I’m sure you’ve seen Kevin Hart or Jamie Foxx speaking highly of their favorite sports book. It’s not their problem, get your money, fam! We here to “respect the hustle!” And of course, just like alcohol commercials telling us to drink responsibly, gambling ads offer a gambling hotline for addicts. The problem lies in young fans not knowing the seriousness of gambling addiction. Not only do you see these ads often while flipping through the channels, but they are also shoved down your throat during any game you watch!
It seems like every third commercial during any professional game you watch has to do with gambling. You have advertisements on the field, ice, or court for DraftKings or BetMGM in almost every game. On top of that, you hear analysts, color commentators, and sideline reporters giving you their parlays or picks for the particular game. With the addition of “live betting,” fans now see the odds change in real time, often on their television screen during the broadcast. So, when is enough, enough?
Final Thoughts
I have no issue with gambling in any form, whether it is blackjack, sports betting, or walking to a random lane in a bowling alley and betting the third bowler will throw a strike. The problem is when you can’t sit down with your kid and watch a game without the gambling propaganda being shoved in your face. For many of us, we learned to love the games we love as children growing up playing said sport and following our favorite athletes. Now, instead of enjoying the game, we worry about spreads, covers, over/unders, and parlays.
Nowadays, we have more access to athletes than ever before, with social media. People tweeting their favorite or least favorite athletes about screwing up bets and parlays are wild. I wonder if gambling addiction will increase to a point where it becomes similar to cigarettes, where public advertising is no longer allowed.
It is also remarkable that the NBA would fine Draymond Green for mentioning the spread, considering that, let’s face it, they might as well have a FanDuel logo on their jerseys. Kids are going to enter their adult lives with sports betting normalized into everyday life. The days of enjoying the sport for the love of the game are over. Like Wu Tang once said, “Cash rules everything around me, Cream get your money dolla dolla bill y’all!”
