WASHINGTON — March Madness set records by almost every measure last year: crowds, ratings, and an estimated $3 billion in sports betting.

Americans are gambling on sporting events at record levels, wagering more than $166 billion in 2025. Yet, as the industry grows and becomes more mainstream, experts warn it may be fueling a new generation of addicts.

Increasingly, some fans are watching not just for the games but for the bets placed on them through apps from gaming companies like DraftKings and FanDuel. Gone are the days of traditional wagers forecasting who will win a game or the point spread.

“Games have been carved up into thousands of betting opportunities within the game,” said Danny Funt, author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.

The book traces the industry’s rapid growth to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling in Murphy v. NCAA, clearing the way for states to legalize sports betting. Eight years later, sports gambling is now legal in 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Funt told CBN News the professional sports leagues were motivated to drop their opposition to legalized gambling largely because of changing viewer demographics.

“They saw that audience aging,” Funt explained. “Younger people are not as interested in sitting through a full game, and people are canceling cable subscriptions. To protect their most valuable asset, TV rights, gambling seems like a powerful antidote to those trends.”

It has also proven lucrative.

According to the American Gaming Association, sports betting revenue hit $16.9 billion last year. The overwhelming industry majority came from online sports betting, 96.5%. That surge has created a windfall for betting companies while also generating tax revenue for cash-strapped states.

However, the convenience and accessibility of gaming apps carry extra risks for some fans — taking tolls both financially and emotionally.

“They say sports just don’t do it for them unless they also have skin in the game or they’re ‘sweating a bet,'” Funt said, citing the more than 300 sources he interviewed for his book. “That is alarming and maybe a sign of what’s to come.”

Mike Sciandra, executive director of the Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling, also worries about the trend and its impact on kids.

“That’s what keeps me up at night,” Sciandra told CBN News. “This problem is going to skew younger and younger. I have an 18-year-old daughter, and I see it among her and her friends.” 

Sciandra said treatment services for gambling addiction in Nebraska have increased by about 40%, even though mobile sports betting remains illegal in the state.

For him, the issue is personal. Sciandra grew up in Las Vegas playing in casino arcades while his family hit the tables and slots. He developed a gambling addiction as a teenager and eventually declared bankruptcy twice before seeking help in December 2020.

Now he works to prevent others from following the same path.

Studies show roughly one-third of boys as young as 11 reported gambling within the past year, while nearly two-thirds of adults say they participated in some form of gambling before turning 21.

Younger bettors gravitate toward “prop bets,” wagers on specific events within a game, such as how many points a player will score. Those bets are often combined into parlays — a single wager that links multiple outcomes together.

“It’s very appealing because people like the idea of winning a ton of money by betting not so much,” Funt said.

Critics say the rapid growth of sports betting calls for stronger safeguards, including protections for athletes and coaches who have reported harassment and even death threats from gamblers angry about losses.

Still, some advocates say there are signs of progress as more people in recovery speak openly about their experiences.

“There are a number of people who’ve suffered from gambling addiction, and thank God they’re in recovery now and very vocal,” Funt said.

Among them is Ed Treat, a recovering alcohol and drug addict who is now a pastor leading a ministry called the Center of Addiction and Faith. He works with churches to address addiction.

“We all kind of agree it’s a disease,” Treat told CBN News. “But I don’t think we fully buy it yet. We still think it’s a moral problem.”

Medical experts say problem gambling can affect the brain in similar ways to alcohol or drug addiction — and may increase the risk of substance abuse.

Treat documents his journey to recovery in his upcoming memoir, The Lie That Kills, providing a theological framework on addiction around the themes of denial and grace.

He stresses that recovery requires support beyond the individual.

“If you take somebody in a family and send them off to treatment and don’t do anything to help the family, and then you put that addict back into the same environment, the chances of succeeding are almost nothing,” he explained.

For Sciandra, recovery has meant turning his experience into a calling.

“If I can help youth and young adults and those currently struggling, there’s no better feeling on Earth,” he said. “That has completely replaced my desire to bet.”

** If you or someone you know struggles with problem gambling, contact the National Hotline for help: 

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