The NBA gambling scandal is just the latest sign of too much too fast amid the rapid rise of sports betting.
As more states have legalized sports betting, it has become nearly-ubiquitous on TV broadcasts and in arenas, including TD Garden.
As more states have legalized sports betting, it has become nearly-ubiquitous on TV broadcasts and in arenas, including TD Garden.Jim Davis/Associated Press
The worst part of the bombshell NBA gambling scandal? What it might mean to young sports-obsessed fans like my 12-year-old and 14-year-old sons.
My kids and their friends live and breathe sports. They look up to the stars. They catch every highlight. They know who scored and who stumbled. There’s a purity in debating who’s won, who’s lost, and why.
But all of that is at risk now, after we let sports betting grow so big so fast in this country. What if our kids conflate their passion for sports with the thrill of gambling?
Even though you have to be 21 to wager on sports in Massachusetts, betting is so integrated into fandom you don’t need to download an app to be immersed in it — just turn on the TV. Between the ceaseless gambling ads, the crawl on game broadcasts, and analyst commentary about point spreads and prop bets, the game itself can sometimes feel like an afterthought.
Ever since the Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports gambling in 2018, all the major leagues have gotten into bed with bookies. Perhaps none more so than the NBA with commissioner Adam Silver calling more than a decade ago for sports betting to be brought out of the shadows and regulated. Of course, he would. There’s just too much money to be made.
The recent FBI arrest of NBA players and coaches, current and former, exposed just how vulnerable the league is to corruption. The most troubling allegations involved Miami Heat (and former Celtics) guard Terry Rozier. The feds accused him of tipping off a friend that he would leave a 2023 game, when he played for the Charlotte Hornets, early due to an injury. The friend then shared that with others so they, including Rozier, could make bets on Rozier’s underperformance, or “under” stats, and profit off confidential information.
This wasn’t even the first time this has happened. Last year the league banned Toronto Raptors’s Jontay Porter for life after he gave a heads up to bettors that he would leave a game early, which allowed them to profit on his unders.
For decades, people have gambled on point spreads — betting $50 on a team winning a game by more, or less, than 7 points, for instance. But once the Supreme Court ruling legalized sports betting beyond Las Vegas, DraftKings and FanDuel have sliced up just about every aspect of the game, enabling “prop bets” not just on who wins or loses, but on which team scores first, which hits the most three-pointers, or how many points a given player might score.
When I asked my sons if they’re worried about the integrity of the game, they provided a typical response to their mom’s inquiries: They brush it off. Then I ask them if they know what sports betting is and whether they think they might try it. Of course, they know what it is, and they assure me they’re not going to grow up to be gamblers.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former Celtics player Terry Rozier were recently arrested by the FBI for their alleged involvement in an illegal gambling ring.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former Celtics player Terry Rozier were recently arrested by the FBI for their alleged involvement in an illegal gambling ring.AP Photo and Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
So does sports betting ruin sports for them?
Not yet for my 14-year-old, but he’s old enough to know it can harm the experience for others. He already finds all the ads “annoying,” especially the cash incentives to entice people to make a wager. He also doesn’t think the leagues should allow retired players to be pitchmen for betting platforms.
“It’s just bad for sports culture,” he said. The games, should not be built “around money when that’s not the purpose of sports.”
And it’s not just bad for fans, but also for players and coaches. It’s not uncommon for them to be heckled by fans during games to make certain plays so their bets can pay off. One U.S. News & World Report survey found that 21 percent of sports bettors say they’ve verbally abused an athlete, either in person or online.
Massachusetts residents could legally place bets on sports starting in January 2023 and since then have wagered $18.2 billion, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. There’s been an uptick in calls to the state’s problem gambling hotline related to sports betting. The U.S. News survey indicated that a quarter of sports bettors worry they can’t control their gambling and a similar share say they’ve been unable to pay a bill because of their bets.
Here’s what also worries parents like me: Our kids are the first generation to grow up with sports betting being normalized, and many have smartphones by middle school. Parents will be fighting two addictive forces at once: sports betting and social media.
Boys “are dealing with so much now, it’s just another thing,” observed Brendan Dolan, a Milton parent whose 12-year-old son plays AAU basketball with mine.
And the pressure to wager on the Sox or Patriots will only intensify as they get older. “Their friends are going to do it, they’re going to have older brothers, their dads are going to do it,” he added.
DraftKings cofounders Paul Liberman, Jason Robins, and Matt Kalish in the company’s production studio in 2022.
DraftKings cofounders Paul Liberman, Jason Robins, and Matt Kalish in the company’s production studio in 2022.Lane Turner/Globe Staff
When DraftKings CEO and cofounder Jason Robins came on my podcast two years ago, I asked how he would explain sports betting to his young children.
“They obviously know about it,” Robins told me on the Globe’s Say More podcast. “I think that what I’d tell them is what every parent should say … This is an activity that’s for adults.”
Robins compared it with talking to your children about drinking beer.
“That’s the same way I would treat this,” he said. “This is something that daddy does. I never did it before I was an adult.”
Still, I’m worried about boys in particular because not only are they deep into sports but also video games that promote gambling-like habits and rewards. It’s enough of concern that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has been tracking the risks of problem gambling among teens for a decade — well before sports betting was legalized here.
Gambling disorders can start as young as 10, and by the time kids are in high school, 60 to 80 percent of students report having gambled at least once in the past 12 months, according to DPH. Teens who gamble are more likely to use illegal drugs, and among all addictions, gambling is linked to the highest suicide rate.
“What you’re doing now is teaching them to love gambling,” said Jonathan Cohen, author of “Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling” who came on my podcast in July. “What happens when all these 25-year-olds lose all their money or have a bad experience gambling and decide to hate gambling, and then they never were taught to love sports underneath that on its own terms?”
Sports betting isn’t going away, but there’s so much more we can do to rein in its worst excesses. Massachusetts has a chance to be a leader on this with a bill proposed this year that would ban so-called prop bets and sports gambling ads during televised games.
Quincy state Senator John Keenan, one of the bill’s cosponsors, is hoping the latest FBI probe will serve as a wakeup call for robust regulation. Keenan thinks online sports betting is much more insidious than other addictions.
“It is right in your hand, 24/7,“ Keenan said. ”It is so unique and so readily available and so addictive that it is a substantial public health issue, and that’s been lost a little bit in all this news about games and players being involved in rigging performances.”
The leagues made a big bet that gambling would bring a flood of cash and a new wave of fan interest. They’re finding out the hard way there’s a lot more they could lose.
Former Celtic Terry Rozier is accused of fixing prop bets. Have we gone too far with legalized betting and its place in sports? Dan Shaughnessy thinks yes.
Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.