Since the landmark 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates for legal sports betting across most of the United States, the nation has witnessed a cultural transformation. What was once an activity relegated to smoky backrooms or the glitz of Las Vegas is now a mainstream pastime, woven tightly into the fabric of American sports and media. But as the stakes rise—both financially and ethically—so do the questions about what this new era of gambling means for sports, society, and the next generation of fans.
The numbers alone are staggering. According to the American Gaming Association, the American sports betting industry raked in $13.71 billion in revenue last year, with legal sportsbooks taking in nearly $150 billion worth of bets—a 22.2% jump from the previous year. Mobile sportsbooks have quickly become the preferred medium for bettors, with Virginia alone seeing over $506 million of its $510 million in August wagers placed via smartphones and apps, as reported by the Virginia Lottery. The Pew Research Center found that one in ten American adults placed an online sports bet within the last year, and 22% said they had bet on sports in 2025, whether online, in a casino, or in a friendly pool.
Yet, as the money pours in, so do the concerns. Recent headlines have been dominated by the latest betting scandal in the NBA. On October 23, 2025, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested, along with more than 30 others, in a wide-reaching federal investigation into illegal gambling and sports betting schemes allegedly tied to Mafia families. According to the Associated Press, authorities accused the group of raking in millions by rigging sports bets and poker games. Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, pushed back, accusing the FBI of seeking "misplaced glory" by orchestrating a public arrest rather than allowing a self-surrender, and insisted Rozier had previously been cleared by both the NBA and FBI in 2023.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling, betting scandals involving athletes and officials have multiplied, prompting a wave of public skepticism. A Pew Research Center poll from the summer of 2025 found that about 40% of U.S. adults now believe legal sports betting is a bad thing for society and sports, up from about one-third in July 2022. The shift is even more pronounced among young men under 30: roughly half in this group now view legal sports betting negatively, a dramatic rise from just 22% three years ago. Interestingly, even among those who have placed a sports bet in the past year, 34% say legal sports betting is bad for society—an increase from 23% in 2022.
Despite these concerns, most Americans draw a line between professional and college sports betting. According to an AP-NORC poll from February, about 60% of Americans support legal wagering on professional sports, but only about 40% favor the same for college sports. Thirteen states have enacted bans on prop bets—but only for college games. A Quinnipiac poll echoes the sentiment: 60% of U.S. adults think legal betting on college sports is a bad thing, while 47% say this about betting on professional sports.
The rise of prop betting—a wager on specific events within a game, rather than the outcome—has added fuel to the fire. This form of betting dates back to January 26, 1986, when Art Manteris of Caesars Sportsbook famously offered 20–1 odds on Chicago Bears defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry scoring a touchdown in Super Bowl XX. Perry delivered, and prop betting took off. Today, prop bets are twice as popular as traditional point-spread bets, according to the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. Yet, bettors lose these wagers about 70% of the time.
The popularity of prop bets has raised red flags about the potential for manipulation. The recent FBI investigation involving NBA figures, with alleged Mafia ties, underscores how easily the integrity of games can be compromised when players or coaches can influence outcomes that are subject to betting. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, speaking before Game 2 of the World Series, defended the league’s business relationships with gambling companies, arguing they are a necessary tool to "catch wrongdoers." Manfred positioned MLB as a league adapting to legalized betting rather than shaping the landscape, according to statements reported on October 25, 2025.
Sports radio and media have also played a significant role in normalizing betting, especially prop bets. Once considered a conflict of interest, partnerships between professional teams, broadcast networks, and sportsbooks are now commonplace. Sports radio, in particular, has embraced sportsbook advertising, with segments dedicated to picks, parlays, and prop bets. According to Nielsen and Edison Research, AM/FM radio still accounts for 64% of all listening on ad-supported audio, though podcasts and streaming are gaining ground with younger audiences. The demographics for sports radio overlap closely with those where sports gambling is rising fastest—making the medium both a driver and a mirror of the betting boom.
But this normalization comes at a cost. Carolyn Hawley, president of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling, told Capital News Service that her organization has seen a 1,500% increase in calls for help since 2019, with a 200% rise in people specifically seeking treatment for gambling problems. The callers are increasingly young and male, with the 18–24 and 25–34 age groups most affected. Hawley warns that gambling’s accessibility through mobile devices puts young people at higher risk than ever before. "Gambling is a part of life that it wasn’t, perhaps, for most individuals in previous generations," she said. Social media influencers and celebrities have further normalized gambling, making it appear "okay" and "acceptable" to younger audiences.
For some, like Matthew Britt, a certified peer recovery specialist for the Virginia Partnership for Gaming and Health, the journey to recovery highlights how deeply gambling has become entwined with everyday life. Britt recalls childhood memories of betting games with family and the difficulty of simply watching sports without thinking about potential winnings. "The hardest part for me was getting used to watching sports without thinking, just being able to watch the game, enjoy the game rather than thinking about what I could have won," Britt said. He emphasizes that recovery is possible and urges those struggling to seek help.
As sports betting cements itself in American culture, the debate over its place—and its pitfalls—shows no sign of quieting. Leagues, media, and regulators are grappling with how to balance the undeniable financial windfall with the very real risks to integrity, public health, and the spirit of the games themselves. Whether the industry and its partners will step up to address these challenges, or simply ride the wave of profits, remains to be seen. For now, the odds are anyone’s guess.
