Sports Betting: Risks & Ripple Effects Teach-Out

In this conversation, historian Jonathan Cohen explores the rapid growth of sports betting and prediction markets in the United States, the risks they pose, and ways to make gambling safer.

Takeaways: Evolution of Sports Betting

We have prepared a list of key points from the Evolution of Sports Betting and Prediction Markets in the US interview for your reference:

1. The U.S. is in a regulatory “Wild West” phase. Since the 2018 Supreme Court decision, sports betting has expanded at unprecedented speed—39 states have legalized it, with most offering mobile betting. This rapid rollout occurred without consistent consumer protections, public education, or regulatory coordination. Law and policy have struggled to keep pace with technological innovation, creating gaps that disproportionately affect inexperienced and younger users.

2. Prediction markets blur the line between gambling and investing. Sports prediction markets represent a new and largely unregulated frontier. By framing wagering as “investing,” these platforms bypass many gambling safeguards while offering functionally identical products. Their nationwide legality and accessibility to 18–21-year-olds—who are barred from sportsbooks in many states—create a significant vulnerability for emerging adults who may not recognize these activities as gambling.

3. State governments face a gambling “gold rush” dilemma. Many states view sports betting revenue as politically attractive “free money” that avoids tax increases. Over time, this creates structural dependence on gambling revenue, making it harder to restrict harmful products without destabilizing state budgets. Historical parallels show that once governments rely on gambling income, public health considerations are often subordinated to fiscal pressures.

4. Online sports betting fundamentally reshapes risk. Mobile betting differs sharply from traditional casino gambling. Always-on access, frictionless deposits, in-play wagering, micro-bets, and global betting menus transform gambling from a discrete activity into a continuous one. This environment increases impulsivity, loss-chasing, and emotional decision-making—especially when betting is embedded within live sports consumption.

5. Meaningful harm reduction requires structural, industry-wide safeguards. Individual responsibility tools (e.g., optional limits) are insufficient—fewer than 1% of users actively engage with them. Evidence points to the need for built-in “friction”: delayed deposits, restricted bet types, default protections for users under 25, cooling-off periods, and limits on micro-betting. Crucially, these protections must be standardized across the industry; otherwise, users simply migrate to less restrictive platforms. The goal is not prohibition, but a system that supports recreational play while preventing predictable pathways to harm.

Reflection Questions

In your daily life, you may have one or more than one of the following roles. Think about the questions that we have posed here. How can you use the Evolution of Sports Betting and Prediction Markets in the US interview to respond to these questions?

• Public health professionals:
  • How might Australia’s longer experience with online gambling inform harm-prevention strategies in your own context?
• Young adult casual bettors:
  • How might betting platforms and prediction markets shape your understanding of risk, money, and “investing” during this stage of your life?
  • How do the betting ads you see make gambling seem? What information do these ads leave out about the risks?
• Athlete:
  • What pressures or risks might arise when betting markets increasingly focus on individual player performance and constant data tracking?
• High school athletics professional:
  • What policies could your school implement to educate student-athletes about prediction markets, which may seem like “investing” but function as gambling?
• Parent or guardian:
  • How would you recognize if your teen was using prediction market apps, and what conversation could you start about the difference between investing and gambling?

Additional Resources

1. Jonathan D. Cohen, Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling (Columbia Global Reports, 2025).
2. Jonathan D. Cohen, “Losing Big” and the Sports Betting Public Health Crisis, The Daily Show.
3. Brett Smiley, Post-PASPA: An Oral History of the U.S. Sports Betting Gold Rush, Sports Handle.
4. More Perfect Union, Sports Betting: What DraftKings & FanDuel Don’t Want You to Know.
5. Wall Street Journal, How a Psychiatrist Lost $400,000 on Gambling Apps (podcast).
6. The Monks in the Casino by Derek Thompson.
7. Jonathan D. Cohen and Isaac Rose-Berman, Opinion: Gambling. Investing. Gaming. There’s No Difference Anymore.