Since it was legalized in 2018, sports betting has become one of the fastest-growing entertainment markets with Americans wagering record sums, but is this healthy or harmful to sports and the American consumer?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #249 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
In 1997, I published a book called “Seducing America: Is Gambling a Good Bet?’ In 2005, the book was revised and re-published as “Gambling: Don’t Bet On It.” Hard to believe it’s been over twenty years since that book was re-released.
In April 2022, for this podcast I recorded, “Opening Floodgates of Sports Betting.”
But gambling hasn’t gone away, and in fact has greatly expanded since the turn of the century, so the arguments I made in that book and podcast are just as valid today as they were then.
The damn broke on May 14, 2018, when the Supreme Court of the United States issued its Murphy vs National Collegiate Athletic Association ruling, 6-3, that the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which banned commercial sports betting in most states, violated the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution. In one opinion, the Supreme Court opened the biggest possible expansion of legalized betting in the US in years.
Now, 57% of adults are engaged in some form of gambling. One half of men under 50 have an active online sports betting account. A projected $23.08 billion in sports betting will be generated in North America this year, with the majority coming from the United States. The industry is expected to see an annual growth rate of 9.29%, reaching over $35 billion by 2030. Over $1.7 billion was forecasted to be legally wagered on the 2025 Super Bowl. Americans have bet “well north of” $500 billion since the 2018 Supreme Court decision, according to Legal Sports Report.
“Betting isn't something that only happens at racetracks or casinos anymore – websites and apps are helping sports betting become a nationwide pastime. And as it grows in popularity, some state coffers are benefiting to the tune of millions in tax revenue from wagers on professional sports.” “Sports betting has been legalized in some form by 39 states and in Washington, DC.”
States are now all-in to sports betting, because they are motivated by money.
“Most states tax sports betting revenue at 10% to 20%. However, there are several outliers, with Iowa and Nevada imposing just 6.75% and New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island levying fees of 51%.” It’s not logical to think state legislatures will monitor graft, greed, and corruption in gambling when they are feeding at the trough.
The vast majority of sports betting revenue is now generated through online platforms. About 30 sportsbooks are operating legally in the United States now.
Moral concerns or societal pressure seem to have disappeared. Professional sports teams that once avoided gambling like the plague but since 2018, the “Big Four,” NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB have all inked multi-billion-dollar deals with casinos and gambling apps. Same can be said for Major League Soccer. ESPN offers wall-to-wall DraftKings ads and segments in most sports shows. As comedian Bill Maher puts it, “Major league sports have become ‘wager’ league sports.”
“The NFL is arguably the biggest league in American sports and has ongoing relationships with betting companies. The National Football League signed a contract with gambling giants Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel, making gambling brands the official sports betting partners of the NFL. It also permitted BetMGM, WynnBet, PointsBet, and Fox Bet to promote their businesses during the games.”
Sports betting is aimed at a largely male demographic (68% of sports betting customers are men). “What was once a hobby reserved for degenerates in Las Vegas has become a casual activity that is encouraged while watching your favorite team.”
In 2025, the pitfalls of gambling caught up with professional sports. In Major League Baseball, one of the most consequential scandals involved Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who were federally indicted for allegedly conspiring to manipulate pitches in games to help co-conspirators win prop bets. Prosecutors assert the scheme involved rigged outcomes on specific pitches, generating substantial illicit gambling profits and prompting legislative and regulatory scrutiny of “micro-bet” markets.
The fallout extended beyond that case. Former MLB star Yasiel Puig was found guilty on federal charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements tied to a historic illegal sports betting ring, underscoring how U.S. authorities are pursuing past gambling misconduct with serious penalties. Meanwhile, the NBA faced a sweeping criminal probe—code-named operations that led to the arrest of more than 30 individuals, including prominent figures like Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier, in alleged schemes involving insider betting information and rigged gambling and poker games. These scandals collectively shook public confidence in sporting integrity, sparked calls from officials to reevaluate betting markets (especially prop bets), and raised hard questions about how deeply gambling has fused with professional sports in the legal betting era.
“The NCAA and federal investigators—led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania—launched a probe into potential gambling violations in NCAA Division I college basketball. At least 30 current and former players are caught up in the investigation, in addition to some of the defendants indicted in the NBA scandal.” “NCAA president Charlie Baker has been very outspoken about his sports betting concerns. Baker has pushed for states to entirely eliminate prop bets. In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Baker said advances in technology have caused an eruption in the sports betting problem.” In response to the 2025 sports gambling scandals, both professional leagues and lawmakers in the United States have stepped up efforts to protect the integrity of their games and rebuild public trust. The NFL, NBA, and MLB have taken concrete steps to limit or ban certain types of wagers that are most susceptible to manipulation — especially player proposition bets tied to individual performances that one participant can influence directly.
Prop bets, short for proposition bets, are wagers on specific events within a game, rather than on who wins or loses.
- Will a quarterback throw over or under 250 passing yards?
- Will a basketball player score 30+ points?
- Will the first pitch be a strike or a ball?
- How many strikeouts will a specific pitcher have?
What makes prop bets controversial—especially in recent scandals—is that they often focus on single players or single actions, which can be easier to manipulate than an entire game. A player might influence one play, pitch, or stat without obviously throwing the game, which is why leagues and regulators see prop bets as higher risk than traditional betting. Plus, what qualifies as a prop bet is nearly infinite, and multiple prop bets can be placed per sporting event, thus the gambling company makes more money.
The NFL issued league-wide memos outlining prohibited bet categories and has been working with state regulators and sports betting partners to curb these markets, a move echoed by MLB and other organizations pushing for similar restrictions. But this all rings a bit shallow when players, coaches, and staff know the NFL is making enormous profits on gambling.
Lawmakers have intensified scrutiny of how sports betting intersects with professional sports. Some members of Congress are pushing for federal legislation like the SAFE BET Act, aimed at creating national standards for sports betting oversight, including limits on advertising and certain in-game bets, alongside public health and transparency measures.
I believe gambling violates at least five doctrines of Scripture:
1) the sovereignty of God (Luck and an omniscient, omnipotent God are mutually exclusive concepts),
2) stewardship (We are accountable to God for our time, talent, and treasure),
3) theft (For you and me to win at gambling a lot of others must lose),
4) covetousness (God commands contentment not greed),
5) potentially addictive (The Bible tells us not to allow our minds, bodies, or souls to be brought under the power of anything other than the Spirit of God).
Sports wagering is the primary entry point to more gambling among adolescents and college students, especially young men. Gambling in all its forms, including sports wagering, turns tried and true values upside down. Gambling undermines a positive work ethic and the productivity that comes from it. Gambling also undercuts a person’s ability and desire to defer gratification in order to accomplish a goal. Individual enterprise, thrift, effort, and self-denial are set aside for chance gain, immediate satisfaction, and self-indulgence. And the bottom line, with hundreds of years of history and hundreds of examples to document it, gambling ruins lives.
I recommend you avoid gambling, particularly online sports gambling. Enjoy sports for the sport, not how much money you can win—or more likely lose.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best.
If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. For more Christian commentary, see my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com, or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2026
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