It’s not about the final score anymore. Following the 2018 Supreme Court's decision to allow states to decide if online sports gambling is allowed in their state, the number of online gamblers skyrocketed. 85% of American adults said this was the right decision in 2018. Now almost a decade later, it’s not adults believing it was the right decision, it's teenage boys. Online sports gambling is legal in 39 states as of 2026, and the exposure of different apps to sports gambling is through the roof, with famous celebrities such as streamer Druski, actor Kevin Hart, and NBA star Lebron James being featured in commercials. These different ads are hooking more than one third of teen age boys in America, leading them down a deep dark hole.

The current state of online gambling is on a next level from what it used to be. Different AI chatbots are being built to help people with their picks, and different apps are emerging such as Kalshi where you can bet on anything from politics to the weather, and sports. Prizepicks, Underdog, Sleeper, and DraftKings, are the main websites for sports gambling. Prizepicks is the number one used sports gambling app in America, and it uses an algorithm that changes players lines based on if betters are picking the over or under more. The house always wins, as bettors keep betting against their odds these websites take advantage and keep promoting different deals such as putting in $5 to get $50, knowing bettors will get addicted and keep putting in more money. 

Texas was just ranked in the top 15 of states that are most addicted to online sports gambling according to WalletHub, even though it is 1/11 states where gambling is illegal. Recent studies show gambling has the same effects and addiction rates as drugs and drinking. The dopamine of winning is the “best feeling ever” according to a member of the St. Andrew’s community, and the feeling of winning big is why gamblers are getting addicted and keep betting more to feel this feeling, even if they go on a streak of losing over $200 just hunting for that sensation. But why has this not been noticed yet even with stats showing 40% of gamblers suffer from anxiety or depression? Young men are using class time to do their research, and place their bets, losing valuable learning time in school. With teenagers playing a risky game they are destined to lose, kids will find themselves blowing money like it’s nothing.

Teenage boys are the ones that are most affected by the rise of online gambling. Almost half of teenage boys from the ages 18-19 have an active online gambling account according to a CBS news video. During the 2025-2026 NFL season, the results of picks submitted was at an all time high, with kids placing bets with their friends and having the same picks. “Doing it with your friends is 10x more fun and blinds me from actually losing and I only remember the memories we've made,” said a member of the St. Andrew’s community. These teens are blinded from the effects and how much money they are losing because websites such as prizepicks do not show you how much you're down it just shows how much you are up at that moment if any. The dopamine of one pick hitting is enough to do it over and over even if you are losing which is why a member of the St. Andrew’s community said, “Online gambling could be fun but is overall harmful and I wish I never started.” These websites know where they can get the most gamblers and benefit off of them and that is young men. These men are being lured into a terrible place, and websites are taking advantage of their vulnerability, by different ads with famous celebrities and different promotions where the kids think they are stealing money from the websites but little do they know, it's the other way around.   

Different promotions and celebrities contributing to different advertisements is one of the main reasons online gambling is becoming so bad. With the recent boom of online gambling, many celebrities have sponsorships with these websites, mainly DraftKings. An interviewee said they “were first hooked by Lebron James after seeing him in a recent advertisement.” But it's not just these advertisements that are bringing people into or back into sports gambling. A recovering gambling addict said in a CBS news video, if you are not on the app for a day, they will send you an email saying “We miss you.” This outgoing message from these websites truly hooks recovering addicts to bring them back to a place where they do not want to be. Along with this, UFC fighter Sean O’Malley posts his picks on his Snapchat story saying “lock of the days” or “Easy money,” which to gamblers mean there is no way it loses. Posts like this show teens that it's okay for them to gamble if he is doing it as someone they possibly look up to. Prizepicks also does fun games where the picks are half off on Tuesday making the payout so much more but this is another way to capture young adults to keep gambling. Online betting is a place people want to stay away from but these ads, celebrities, and promotions make it so hard to stay away, and everyone just wants to “give it a try.”

Over the past couple of years the amount of active online sports gambling accounts have been the highest ever, with a concerning amount of those being teens illegally sports betting. There are many things to blame: The court decision in 2018, different ads and promotions, and the rise of many new websites. Gambling is as addictive as drugs and drinking, but is still going unnoticed and taking over teen’s and adult’s lives. If gambling keeps going unnoticed it will ruin the game everyone loves that was once about the final score, not about the stats.