When the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting in 2018, Americans legally wagered less than $5 billion on sports annually. Last year, they bet $150 billion.
What’s emerged isn’t just a bigger gambling market but a public health crisis in the making, with young men as its primary casualties.
Today 90% of bets are placed on phones, not at casinos or racetracks. More than half are live bets, placed while games are in progress. Open any betting app and you’ll find hundreds of options per game: not just who wins but whether the next pitch will be a ball or a strike, whether Shohei Ohtani will get a home run and five strikeouts, whether LeBron James will score 30 points. You don’t need to drive anywhere,…