With the number one quarterback in college football’s transfer portal dealing with a gambling addiction, a local addiction expert said she expects more cases.
Volunteer Behavioral Health Senior Clinical Director Beth Tucker said the fast-paced, 24-hour nature of betting apps makes sports betting highly addictive. Tucker said mental health experts are monitoring widespread use of these apps among young men as the industry continues to grow.
“That’s the problem is the addictive patterns within the apps or even like everybody’s doing, you know, in March, madness happens, ‘hey, let’s bet on the games or college football,’ that’s innocent,” Tucker said. “But when it’s consistently $10 here, $10, $10 or higher, then it really does start to impact people financially.”
Recent research shows 75 percent of college-age males engage in gambling in some form. As more gambling scandals come to light in the era of online sportsbooks, Tucker said the addictive behaviors can extend to the players, as well as fans.
“It’s a huge risk and it’s also something they’re not supposed to be doing,” Tucker said. “One, but also, you know, recognizing, like, hey, if you get into that, and maybe they’re ashamed to seek help, like just know that there’s other people, especially with your statistic.You know, you’re saying 75%.That’s a huge pot of people that are also struggling with the same thing.So they’re not alone, and they’re are resources that could help them get out of this before they get engulfed by it.”
Keith Windsor, Client Retention Manager at The Gambling Clinic and former gambling addict, said the prevalence of young men sports betting has become increasingly more concerning. Windsor said companies like Draft Kings, FanDuel and ESPN Bet can engage in predatory practices.
“These companies are smart,” Windsor said. “They use algorithms. They know your trends, they know everything about, when you start placing bets, they know which way you’re going.”
Meanwhile, Windsor said, online prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, allow those as young as 18 years old to place bets.
“As soon as you can have a bank account, you can start spending and losing money like an adult,” Windsor said.
Speaking from past experience, Windsor said by trying to chase losses, gamblers can quickly get in too deep and might be afraid to ask for help. Additionally, Windsor said the system-wide expansion of gambling companies and the consequences of addiction will require a systemic change to fix.
“My experience with addiction is this: There’s a point where you can stop and there’s an invisible line somewhere,” Windsor said. “That line is different for everybody, and it looks different for everybody. But once you step over that line, oftentimes without knowing, you’re at a point where you can’t stop without help.”
Since the legalization of sports gambling in 2018 there have been a litany of gambling scandals, spanning across college and professional sports leagues, including most recently, a federal indictment of NBA player Terry Rozier.
College football quarterback Brendan Sorsby checked into rehab for an alleged gambling problem. He likely faces NCAA sanctions.