How Sports Betting Took Over Everything

Sports betting is everywhere: TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and TV. If you've consumed any form of sports media over the last week, chances are you've encountered some sort of sports betting advertisement. You've probably seen Kevin Hart promoting DraftKings or Rob Gronkowski endorsing FanDuel. Even Jamie Foxx and Vanessa Hudgens have appeared in commercials for BetMGM. If you attended or tuned into an NFL, NHL, or NBA game, you've likely come across ads for these services. This is a full-blown media invasion.

What's happening is not a coincidence; it's a planned effort to get you and me addicted to sports betting. It's that simple.

Here are the chapters for this video. Feel free to jump around accordingly:

0:00 Introduction
0:54 How Did We Get Here?
1:24 Advantages Of Sports Betting
1:58 So What's The Problem?
3:02 The NFL Is Indoctrinating Our Youth
3:39 The NFL's Stance on Sports Betting
4:05 Colleges Endorsing & Promoting Sports Betting
5:12 The Facts And Reason
5:45 This Is An International Issue
6:17 Content Creators Promoting FanDuel, DraftKings, & Sleeper
7:11 Sleeper Example
7:30 Cultural Issues With Sports Betting
8:29 The Solution To This Massive Problem

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Creators note:
Hello, my name is Zackary Smigel. I've been creating YouTube videos since I was a kid. I started YouTube full-time about five years ago. You might have seen me from Real Estate License Wizard, where I obtained 60,000 subscribers and over 5 million channel views. I have since left that channel for creative pursuits, and this is my first crack at starting something new. I'd appreciate a like and subscribe if this content interests you and I captured your attention for even just a few moments.

On a secondary note, I feel great about the video quality again. Finally locked in the new place. My only issue which I hope is minor was some spotty audio fuzz. Something I'm looking into for next time. Hopefully not super noticeable. But other than that, I am super happy with how this came out. I hope you enjoy!

Zackary Smigel

#youtube #videoessay #zackarysmigel

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Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more engaging video commentary!

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[ZackarySmigel]

Is it just me or is Kevin Hart all over place?

[Pepeutra]

I'm brazilian and I constantly see my classmates, 15 year olds, screaming in joy or anger when they lose money betting DURING CLASS, it's upsetting, there should be international legislations put towards gambling advertisement because I hate seeing young people like me rot their brains over "easy money" (No joke, one girl said to a teacher after he had said that there was no easy way to get money "Yeah, there is" "Oh, really? What then?" "Gambling, it's easy money" and the same day she cried during recess because she lost the equivalent of 2 dollars)

[TenOfZero]

I never understood how gambling gets such a free pass on advertising

[Wobbotherd]

Its so funny how many free online services in our society are supported by ads since 2008, and yet how few genuinely productive things there are to actually advertise. Sports betting, payday loans, etc. all these things that used to be considered bottom of the barrel disgusting, too sleazy to even be advertised daytime TV in the 90s, are now just regularly shoved in our faces every 5 minutes on youtube.

[MasterEth]

OH MY GOSH I WON'T STOP GETTING THESE ADS. You literally read my mind.

[thesuntitan]

Here in Italy, fantasy football has always been very popular, but it went through an even bigger surge of popularity in the last few years. Recently, we've also had many cases of pro soccer players admitting that they're actually massively in debt due to sports gambling. Even football video games are chock full of virtual gambling. It's like they're attacking us on every front to make sure that sports and gambling should be one and the same in our minds

[lamington]

Australian here! While my family doesn't bet, we do watch a lot of sport and there have been points in my life where I've been able to recite sports betting ads easily. They all finish with a "gamble responsibly" card but I guarantee you most people don't pay attention to that part. Great video!

[TheBenCrazy]

Gambling ads now are like cigarette ads in the 50s and I hope in the future its regulated as such in the future

[Jan]

Same happens also in Europe with normal Football, you can't see a match without any ads for sport betting sites like tipico. Also many, if not all, Sport Games are just Gambling Games nowadays, you have the Lootbox game FuT in Fifa (now not called Fifa anymore), Slots in every 2K Sports game and E-Sports promotes it too.

[Cosplayprofessor]

Howdy! An Australian here! There sports betting ads have always been so over the top but recently they have been legally required to add a disclaimer at the end saying something like "what's gambling really costing you?" And "chances are you're about to lose". For me, that disclaimer feels like it takes the edge off the advertisement, like a little reality check. Another thing I want to highlight is that on social media they're deliberately targeting the Young Male demographic. I (26F) barely see those ads on YouTube Tiktok IG etc but my partner (27M) gets betting ads almost exclusively and gets completely inundated constantly. They really need to sort this out for real!

[bongwatershark]

It feels almost distopian how much this type of gambling has been pushed on to people. I can see it being a big issue for my generation in the future.

[poogapop]

kevin hart gains 1 centimeter of height for each sportsbetting ad he does

[heathermch]

After watching this video, all my social media algorithms changed and I’m being fed a disgusting amount of sports betting advertisements now. This has to stop!!!

[KarolYuuki]

Here in Brazil the situation is also dire.
During the world cup last year, the commercials during the games were sportsbet sites ONLY, you rarely saw commercials for other stuff.

As a person who worked in sportbet/online casino customer support, that makes me really sad. I don't know if this industry is worth the jobs that it generates, you see so many people wasting their lives on this.

[symliadoo]

the crazy thing is I don't care about sports at all and I used to see them all the time 😭 I don't think I see them much anymore, but I mentally block out ads nowadays

[dsnodgrass]

Ive been a sports fan a long time. I worry about the unintended consequences of huge gambling conglomerates being so closely tied to the sports. That much money has a huge gravitational pull; and even the big-money pro sports world may get pulled down. Integrity of sports will suffer.

[quantumslasher]

Many popular games have loot boxes or gacha mechanics, which are effectively gambling, priming younger people for gambling, as they use the same psychological tricks to keep people playing.

[RetroPokemonTCG]

So glad someone is talking about this. As an avid NFL and fantasy football fan, the sheer /amount/ of gambling ads has been insane, not to mention the questionability of leagues and universities partnering with sportsbooks. This stuff NEEDS to be regulated much more heavily than it currently is.

[saraschmidt]

As a person who doesn’t care about sports or gambling, all these ads are painfully annoying and worthless.

[CatherineInFrench]

It's the same in Canada. I watch nhl games and gambling is EVERYWHERE. I worry for gamblers. It's so easy to develop an addiction nowadays. No need to get out of the house. It's in the palm of our hand...