Jude Yuen raises concerns over seeing his peers participating in sports betting.
I used to think that gambling was something that only grown-ups did: in Las Vegas, at poker tables. But lately, sports betting has begun to feel like it’s everywhere. Not just in casinos, but in the social media and sports broadcasts that teens like myself regularly consume. Aside from the ads, in my own school and in my junior class, I know so many people who bet on basketball games, college sports and sometimes even obscure matches tennis matches.
Some of my peers use apps that get around the sports betting ban in California by using legal loopholes and calling themselves “sweepstakes” instead of gambling. Sweepstakes sports betting involves the use of digital currency that can be purchased and sold for your own money while traditional sports books use real cash directly. This year, I decided to take an independent project seminar at my school. In this class, we got to choose a topic we were interested in, conduct research and share our findings. I choose to look at the similarities between the marketing of sports betting companies and the e-cigarette companies that have widespread advertising.
At first, they seemed relatively unrelated. But the more I researched, I realized those companies use similar marketing tactics, like flashy graphics, paid influencers and attempts to normalize their product. The goal is to make it look fun and harmless, like everyone’s doing it. On top of my scholarly research, I conducted a mini-study at my school, and the responses were eye-opening. Most of respondents reported that they knew someone their age who sports bet, and some said that they themselves bet.
Additionally, almost 70% of respondents said that they thought sports betting was a prevalent issue at my school. What frustrates me is that we’ve called out e-cigarette companies for this kind of marketing: yet with sports betting, it’s like we’re still pretending it’s not a problem. We should be having those same conversations. Because when risky habits start becoming part of everyday high school life, that’s not just a trend. That’s a warning sign. With a Perspective, I’m Jude Yuen.