Sports Betting Is the ‘New Oxycontin’ | Hacker News Reader

Sports Betting Is the ‘New Oxycontin’

thefp.com

25 pointsfortran7714 comments

When online sports betting was legalized in my state, I was shocked at how aggressive the initial advertising campaign was. There were at least a dozen different sites offering hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of credit with sign up bonus. I distinctly remember sports betting companies offering a variety of "free money" opportunities to onboard new users to their respective platforms. I have never participated in sports betting and have no interest in it, but considering big players in the industry were throwing away buckets of cash in customer acquisition in a way I have never seen before, I can't imagine just how much money they make from their user base once they get hooked.

I don't get why advertising is allowed in sports betting (or any betting in general). Betting (and alcohol for that matter) should have the same restrictions as cigarretes on advertising and access

I think the fact that this remains an unwritten story is shameful for those of us that love sports. The Sacklers needed doctors to legitimize their crimes, and the sports betting industry has coopted governments and also the sports journalism industry to legitimize theirs.

Influencers & content creators. They are driving massive usage and community around gambling.

Because they are all trying to profit. Via affiliate marketing commissions or by selling picks (or software to make picks).

It really is. I love sports - both watching and playing.

However, for years DraftKings, FanDuel and the like would "advertise" during major sports broadcasts and say "this isn't gambling, this is daily fantasy sports!" Yet 1 year later, online sports betting becomes legal and all of a sudden those same commercials keep airing, but without the "this isn't gambling" tagline - because it really is.

What really irks me, though, is all of a sudden it seems that betting odds are part of every broadcast for any given sport. Seeing my childhood heroes talking about gambling odds and picks just kinda ruins it all for me. I don't like that a large portion of a given pre-game show or countdown show is centered around betting. Granted, a lot of the talking heads don't really have much else to talk about once the main points are discussed (injuries, trades, roster changes, playing condition changes, etc...), but a part of me thinks "most of these guys made millions while playing, and get paid to watch sports and talk about them.....why do they need to get paid to talk about gambling? Don't they have enough money already?"

Disclaimer: for over a decade I've been active on a penny betting site that requires no deposit, but pays out in $200 increments if you ever reach that amount. You watch a few ads, get like 5-10 cents in credits, and you can bet with those credits and win real money. I primarily do parlay betting on tennis, NFL, and football (international). I enjoy it, and have made a few bucks, but I don't obsess over it. I don't think I'll ever deposit real money on a gambling site, even a small amount for fun. Too much risk.

anti-gambling commercials are a joke. "gambling problem? calls this number"

would much rather hear gambling commercials focus on fact that 97% of people lose money by telling / showing stories of real people who thought they had an edge and kept losing money until they had to get into a rehab program or lost it all.

same goes for modern day options trading, crypto trading, etc.

I'm not against legal sports betting, but the way its advertising has seeped into every aspect of professional sports is sickening.

Commercials, in stadium advertising, on jersey advertising, it's everywhere. Trying to watch the UFC now is insane. There are constant mid broadcast interruptions, they'll throw up live odds in the middle of fights, they'll display tweets from betting companies when someone makes a big bet, they'll bring in a betting company employee to tell you how you can win $3000 on a $100 bet if you just parlay every underdog on the main card. With the amount of money involved I would be shocked if there isn't some form of match fixing going on in at least one professional sport right now.

In my opinion it should be treated like tobacco, legal but with the advertising heavily regulated.

People aren't selling ass or tearing out copper piping for gambling. It's not remotely comparable. There's no punishing withdrawal, no dying.

This is an insult to the victims of the Opioid crisis.

It’s a really emotionally effective argument to call the boogeyman of the day an “addiction” and link it in people’s minds to chemical dependency, which is what the term is supposed to refer to.

>which is what the term is supposed to refer to

It actually isn't though, you seem to be defining it like that because you like it.

Tried betting on sports and horses in my 20s and learned my lesson

I really like sports but have no interest betting

But I do buy lottery tickets now and then

When will the Taxpayers have to bail the sports bettors out?

We do it all the time. Anti gambling rehab, anti gambling commercials, corrupt politicians, opportunity costs wasted by the addicts, bankruptcies, failed marriages.

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