Sports betting has risen tenfold in three years. Addiction experts fear the next opioid crisis

The Hill | Feb. 10, 2023

The sports betting market has multiplied tenfold in three years and may have reached $7 billion in 2022. More than half of the nation can now legally gamble on sports. Fifty million Americans are expected to bet on the upcoming Super Bowl.

Five years ago, betting on live games was illegal in most of the United States. A Supreme Court ruling in 2018 removed the ban and transformed the industry. Now, 33 states and the District of Columbia allow wagers on games.

“Gambling is a very different addiction from drugs or alcohol,” said Lia Nower, a professor and director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. “If I’m drunk or high, at some point my family is going to figure it out. With gambling, I can be sitting with my kids, watching cartoons, and gambling away my house, my car, everything I own, on my mobile phone. How would you know?”

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