Sports betting growing, but not without concerns

Sports betting has become very popular all across the world, including the United States in the past few months. The World Cup triggered a lot of sports betting, and then other major events such as the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 have also brought in a lot of people to these apps. 

Iowa is one of the top five states for sports betting. Since it was allowed into casinos in 2019, it has gained popularity tremendously. The American Gaming Association stated that almost 20.5 million people in America bet on the World Cup, with a total of $1.8 billion worth of bets being made. This comes out to about 8 percent of the United States adult population.. 

Now while sports betting has become very popular, is it safe? If you find the right websites or apps to use for sports betting, it can be very safe. One of the top apps is Draftkings. It is very easy to use and people that use it seem to have good luck. You can deposit money from your bank account right into the app through a secure method of payment, such as a wired transfer, or even using a debit or credit card, and even venmo. So while it is safe, sports betting can be dangerous on the other hand. 

Many forms of gambling can often lead to addiction. This addiction leads to financial problems and sometimes goes even further. People bet on sports because it is easy, it brings entertainment and there is a potential profit gain. It sounds like a win-win, but is it really worth it? 

In a Survey, conducted by the Kindbridge behavioral health services, they collected information about American college students gambling, which was taken in 2019 after a few months of sports betting was allowed nationally, 75 percent of students across the universities bet on sports. It is clinically proven by the resource team at Kind bridge behavioral health that younger people have a three times greater chance of developing a gambling addiction than adults. Kindbridge is a team of researchers and people with degrees in human psychology. According to this team who have been studying behaviors of people who have been gambling on sports, they have noticed that between 2004 and 2019, the amount of people gambling on sports almost quadrupled.

“While I am in high school, I have reached the age of 18, but I do not play sports. I don’t think it is worth the risk of losing money and potentially getting into it and then not being able to stop. I love to watch sports, and the thrill of the game is enough excitement for me,” senior Colby Cryer said. 

So while sports betting seems like it doesn’t have any risks, and while it is safe and easy to do even from the comfort of your own home, you might want to be careful engaging in it. 

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