Addressing the ‘valleys of despair’ caused by the growing sports betting industry
Top photo caption: A person holds cards near a keyboard, chips, dice and “Online Gambling” words in this illustration picture, June 5, 2020. OSV News photo/Dado Ruvic, Reuters/Illustration
By Charles Camosy, OSV News
The sports betting industry has seen explosive growth in revenue in the past six years, but how is it affecting society? Ray Kim, director of U.S. Programs & Partnerships at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, recently spoke with OSV News’ Charles Camosy about what Catholics should know about the growing addiction issues that have taken hold for many.
— Charles Camosy: Imagine someone who hasn’t really thought about online gambling at all? Or someone who is just unaware of what has happened in the last few years. Can you give us some numbers? What is the lay of the land?
— Ray Kim: I would say the lay of the land can be best described as having mountains of prosperity and valleys of despair. Those living on the mountaintops, mainly the online betting platforms and the gambling industry as whole, are raking in billions of dollars annually. The low valleys of despair exist because while record-level revenues are being generated from online wagers, there are entire generations of Americans who are now struggling with growing debt and gambling addiction, often jointly creating a vicious cycle that is intentional by design.
According to a 2025 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, total sports wagers increased from $4.9 billion in 2017 to $121.1 billion in 2023, a span of six years. This sharp increase followed the 2018 Supreme Court ruling (Murphy v. NCAA) that overturned the federal ban on sports betting, returning decision-making power to individual states. The JAMA study also found that “online bets [accounted] for 94% (or $113.8 billion) of total sports wagers during 2023.”
The years following 2023 continued to be just as bountiful for the sports betting industry. The American Gaming Association (AGA) has touted 2025 as another record year. According to ESPN, “the association’s figures showed that Americans legally bet $166.94 billion on sports in 2025, an 11% increase from 2024.”
To put this into perspective: $166.94 billion is more than twice the amount of money spent by Americans on the entire U.S. movie, music, book and museum industries combined in 2025 (roughly $70 billion).
If our spending habits are any indication of our priorities and what we value, then what these trends reflect is that Americans are increasingly valuing and prioritizing gambling over the arts, our cultural products and other sources of entertainment that have been the mainstays of American social life.
Not only do these spending habits reflect a gradual devaluing of the arts and culture, but when paired with data capturing the betting habits and finances of American bettors, they reveal a bleak picture of financial health and responsibility. This US News Survey from 2025 found: 25% of respondents have missed bill payments because of bets they have made; almost 30% admitted to having debts attributed to their gambling; over 15% said they have taken out personal loans to fund their gambling; and most concernedly, about a quarter said they were worried they could not control their gambling.
— Camosy: Who is making the most money from online gambling? Who is losing the most money?
— Kim: Undoubtedly, the sports betting industry is making the most money. They made a record $16.96 billion in revenue in 2025. Rewind to 2018, the year of Murphy v. NCAA, the industry made approximately $430 million. There has been a 39x increase in revenue in this short seven-year span.
The other group experiencing a windfall through the legalization of sports betting and the widespread adoption of online platforms has been our states. Since 2018, states have generated over $11 billion in tax revenue; most of it being generated in recent years driven by massive adoptions of online platforms in states that have legalized sports betting.
As for who is losing the most money, this is where the picture gets complicated. The available data shows that Gen Z and Millennials constitute the largest number of sports bettors and the most frequent bettors, but it is hard to say just from the data whether they are the ones losing the most.
Most Gen Z and Millennials fall into the category of “casual gamblers” or “event bettors.” They make frequent smaller bets, however, those amounts can absolutely add up over time. Young men between ages 18-35 are also the most likely to “chase their losses” and fall into an addiction spiral.
What available data clearly shows, however, is that online betting platforms intentionally design their products and services to hook “VIPs” or heavy bettors. According to reports, approximately 60%-80% of sportsbooks’ profits are generated by a small percentage (1%-5%) of their bettors.
There has even been a case where an online sportsbook was accused of generating over half of its revenue from just 20 VIPs. Although it is hard to say who exactly loses the most money, it is abundantly clear from data and reporting that online gambling platforms are intentionally deploying predatory tactics to constantly find new vulnerable targets to financially ruin
Once a VIP has been identified by tracking their habits (ex. frequent large sum deposits, frequent activities late at night, high loss profiles, etc.), online gambling platforms keep them hooked through 24/7 “human VIP host” and other “perks” until they are no longer a “high-value target.” This process is a continuous cycle.
— Camosy: How should Catholic parishes, high schools, colleges and universities be responding to all of this? What about parents and broader families?
— Kim: The most troubling thing I have learned while diving into all of this is just how young this can all start. Teenagers are now falling prey to the allure of online gambling. They may not be on sports betting platforms as much as the older generations, but they are finding their own entry point through less regulated platforms like prediction markets. Many are getting around age restrictions by using someone else’s ID, a VPN or borrowing an older friend’s account.
We need a whole-of-society approach to tackle this issue. Churches, schools and families have to be on the same page and aware of the risks and dangers of online gambling. We have to be educating not just our children about these dangers, but ourselves as well.
We all have to know how to spot the signs of someone struggling with gambling addiction, and more importantly, know how to help them; this could mean knowing how to initiate a conversation around this topic that is usually wrapped up in feelings of shame and guilt or knowing where to find the resources available to help those struggling with gambling addiction.
The study of addiction and the field of addiction recovery have come such a long way, and one of the most profound insights coming out of that field is that addiction is deeply influenced by one’s social environment. Gambling addiction is no different, and this means that all those social spaces — Churches, schools, the family — have a positive role to play in preventing gambling addiction from forming as well as helping those suffering from it recover.
— Camosy: Are there any public policy changes that you think could also help move things in a better direction?
— Kim: There are bipartisan efforts to protect youth from online gambling that I think are really meaningful. For example, Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Katie Britt, R-Ala., recently introduced a bill, the GAME Act, in the Senate that would prohibit social media companies and other advertisers from targeting minors with sports betting ads online.
This is one way we can try to disrupt the systems in place that reinforce the addictiveness of online gambling. Representatives Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., and Valerie Foushee, D-N.C., are making similar efforts in the House, calling for more accountability from the gambling industry for the social harms caused by their platforms, pushing for more transparency around user data and increased clarity around existing safeguards.
Rep. Tonko’s most notable piece of legislation, the SAFE Bet Act, that was co-introduced alongside Sen. Blumenthal in 2025 seeks to enforce nationwide consumer protection baselines for online gambling, bringing an end to the self-policing model currently used by the gambling industry.
Clamping down on advertising, particularly those targeting youth and minors, enforcing nationwide consumer protection baselines, banning the use of credit cards for funding gambling accounts, and removing features that increase the addictive nature of online gambling (e.g. in-game betting, “free” promotional bets to keep users hooked, and VIP programs) are all viable options that could yield positive results.
Taking a more holistic approach, funding gambling addiction treatment programs and resources at a level that matches the gambling industry’s record-setting revenues and the billions of dollars generated in tax revenue by the states could also be meaningful policy changes we can all benefit from.
Charles Camosy teaches moral theology and bioethics at The Catholic University of America in Washington.
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