Written by Anthony Tako

Pete Rose was the all-time hit leader in Major League Baseball. However, he was gambling on the sport while playing. In the wake of the Pete Rose gambling controversy, he was banned from baseball on August 24, 1989.

As a reaction to that season, Congressional lawmakers proposed a federal ban on sports gambling and bookmaking, with some exceptions for states, including Nevada. President George H.W. Bush signs the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act  (“PASPA”) into law on October 28, 1992.

Fast forward 26 years, and on May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court struck down PASPA, the federal ban on sports betting.

“Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own,” the court wrote in its opinion. “Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not.”[1]

So began the journey of states individually approving or rejecting the ability for their residents to gamble online on sports….and it came fast.

As of the writing of this article, 32 states have approved online gambling as available in their state since 2018 as follows:

Is the Industry growing in dollars gambled?

Immensely!  In the past four years alone, more than 80 million people have started gambling online, allowing the online gambling industry to more than double its user base, reaching an astounding 176 million users.[2]

In fact, for the most recent Super Bowl, the American Gaming Association estimates a record 67.8 million American adults gambled a combined $23.1 billion on the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.[3]

That is an increase of nearly $16 billion since the 2022 Super Bowl, in just two years.[4]

The rise in online sports gambling is voluminous[5]:

In what was a $34 billion industry in 2017, the growth is expected to grow to $138 billion by 2028 or nearly 400%!

Why is this a concern for the church?

This Gambling is Done in Secret

As is typical with a pornography addiction, much of this type of gambling is done in secret.

This can be kept private, for a season, as much of the gambling is done on smart phones. This is dangerous, especially when in a family, as funds could, potentially, be kept hidden from the individual’s spouse. However, the Lord reminds us in Luke 12:2 that what is kept hidden will eventually be revealed.

This secrecy is working to tear families and marriages apart! Unfortunately, when this secret battle becomes too big to handle, it is often too late to recover from financially and destroys individuals for years to come. One gambler who had lost more than $400,000 in less than two years is now stuck with paying back those losses over 15 years to the tune of $4,900 per month.[6]

Online Sports Gambling is trying to take down our young people

One of the challenges of the church is shepherding young people into adulthood and have them maintain a flourishing relationship with the Lord.

Online sports gambling is an extreme distraction from that flourishing. In fact, studies have shown that that age bracket is one of the most susceptible to this particular addiction. A 2023 report by Rutgers University showed that younger men aged 18 to 44 were “most likely to be high-risk problem gamblers…” and noted that 19% of the 18 to 24 group were at a high risk for problem gambling.

Players aged 18 to 20 years old “are significantly more likely” to chase their losses and bet beyond their affordability.”[7]

Highly Addictive, and it’s everywhere!

Years ago, the ability to gamble meant you had to go somewhere and wager on a team to win or lose.

Now, it’s all available on your smart phone and you can wager on practically everything in a game. Want to wager on a game to win, for a particular player to have a set number of points, for a particular team have a set number of wins per season…..perhaps wager on all of those together?… the list goes on and on and on.

Additionally, online sports gambling allows for changing odds (in-game wagering) throughout an actual game. So, what does that mean?

Well, let’s say you’re committed to wagering $25 on your team to win and they’re favored by 3 points at the beginning of the game. So, if you win you’d win $50, or a profit of $25. However, after the first half, your team is down by 10 points. If you are “convinced” that you’ll win…. with your team now losing you could win even MORE money because the odds are more favorable.

At that point, if you wager $25 you might stand to profit $50 (est.) because they’re now losing the game. However, you may also lose all of it! This wagering can go throughout the entire game.

This is highly addictive.

Another way that these gambling websites keep an individual hooked in is through “credits.”  As you win, you may be tempted to cash out.  However, the industry through algorithmic analysis gives credits towards additional gambling with the hopes that you’ll continue so that they win the money back.

The industry is “skilled in the art of leveraging data analytics and human behavior to keep customers betting. Gambling companies tracked the ups and downs of Fischer’s betting behavior and gave bonus credits to keep her playing. VIP customer representatives offered encouragement and gifts.”[8]

Lastly, nearly every sporting event, both live and on television, is now sponsored by an online sports gambling platform. I realized this intentionality of trying to normalize gambling through my own sons.  They were able to quote, verbatim, these commercials from watching a sporting event on television.

These organizations are trying to numb us to the fact that these apps are extremely dangerous and addicting.

Often tied to Credit Cards

These gambling apps are often tied to credit cards. Individuals gambling on these websites can just keep going further into debt that will be extremely difficult to pay back. With credit cards now averaging interest rates 24.59%, per Lending Tree[9], this presents a challenge to ever pay back for the losses.

Stewardship Issue

In an age where tithing continues to decline as a percentage of income, gambled resources continue to grow.  A recent Lifeway study showed that between 2017 and 2021, those that tithed, or gave 10% of their income to the church, declined amongst Evangelicals from 37% to 31% in those four years.

However, as previously noted, the amount of money gambled online continues to grow exponentially. The combination of ease of access and addictive nature of this sin has the potential of pulling more resources away from families and ultimately from the Lord’s work. This desire to “get rich quick” is in direct opposition from the Christian work ethic as Paul outlined in Colossians 3:23-24 – “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

We receive a reward through our hard work unto the Lord and we should not circumnavigate that calling on our lives.

What should the Church be doing on this topic?

Many aren’t aware of this danger – talk about it – This isn’t just an issue for men!

A study by St. Bonaventure University found that 72% of online sports gamblers were male.  So it’s primarily men, but, not ALWAYS men![10] A 2024 Wall Street Journal article by Katherine Sayre spoke of the travails of Kavita Fischer.

Fischer is a 41 year old mental-health professional and single mother of two boys in Pennsylvania. Ms. Fisher began online gambling in November 2022. By April of 2023, she was down $141,000.[11] One of the responsibilities of Church leadership is to be watchman at the gates. The Hebrew word from the Old Testament for watchman is “ צָפָה (tsō-p̄eh),” which translates to “look out” or “keep watch.” This is similar to the way ancient Israeli cities would physically protect themselves through a watchtower as seen in Isaiah 5:1-2:

“Let me sing for my beloved

my love song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones,

and planted it with choice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,

and hewed out a wine vat in it;

and he looked for it to yield grapes,

but it yielded wild grapes.”[12]

However, there is also a spiritual responsibility to the watchman, for they warned of impending danger, particularly as seen in Ezekiel 33:7 –

“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel.  Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.” 

As watchman for our local congregations – when we see impending danger, we the church have a responsibility to warn. Work with your church staff to set up an Adult Education Class on this topic or perhaps consider a one-off topical sermon on the topic of addictive behaviors.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure you speak of this impending potential issue to the Church!

Making accountability available

When we think of accountability, we often think of close-knit relationships (Proverbs 27:17 relationships) that provide encouragement for spiritual disciplines, challenge one another to be sexually pure, encourage strong marriages, etc. When was the last time someone asked you a pointed question in an accountability relationship about the addictive behavior of online gambling?

Let’s make it a point to educate our congregations of this growing danger and encourage accountability. Within the context of the church, if a need arises, have someone head up an accountability group specifically related to addictive behaviors such as online sports gambling or other addictive behaviors.

Have recovery options available

2 million US Adults (approximately 1%) are estimated to meet the criteria for a severe gambling problem in a given year and another 4-6 million (2-3% would be considered to have mild or moderate gambling problems.[13]

With these statistics it is not a matter of if this will rise as an issue within your local congregation, but, when. Be prepared to have Christian counselors to point individuals struggling in this area for recovery. There are also many gambling related recovery resources available that Pastors should have at the ready, if need be, in shepherding someone through this addiction. I have listed some of them below.

Church, let’s make sure that we are empowering our leaders and members to engage in this vastly growing, addictive world. The Enemy is not going to stop in trying to take us off the mark of making disciples, and online sports gambling and its pervasiveness in the culture is one of those ways that is just starting to pick up.

Let’s get ahead of it “to the praise of His glorious grace.”[14]

Gambling Recovery Resources:

Gamblers Anonymous: https://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/

Gambling Recovery Ministries: https://www.grmumc.org/

National Council on Problem Gambling:  https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/

Anthony Tako is a member and prior Elder Chairman at the Village Church of Barrington (EFCA) in Barrington, Illinois.  Anthony also serves as Board Chairman of the 222 Foundation, a ministry devoted to helping future ministry leaders stay in ministry and flourish and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Illinois.  He is married to Lindsay and they have four young adult children.

[1] Purdum, David (May 22, 2018).  Sports Betting Legalization: How we got here. Available at: https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/23561576/chalk-line-how-got-legalized-sports-betting.  (Accessed February 15, 2024)

[2] Heaton, Austin (October 13, 2023).  6 Incredible Statistics from the Online Gambling Industry in 2023. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-incredible-statistics-from-online-gambling-industry-austin-heaton-9mdif/.  (Accessed February 17, 2024).

[3] Schad, Tom (February 12, 2024).  Why Super Bowl 58 was a record-breaking event for sports betting.. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/super-bowl/2024/02/12/super-bowl-58-sports-betting-break-records/72568655007/.  (Accessed February 17, 2024).

[4] Belz, Emily (February 10, 2023).  With Sports Betting Surge, Churches Should up the Ante on Addiction Recovery. Available at: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/super-bowl-sports-betting-gambling-recovery-ministries.html . (Accessed February 13, 2024).

[5] Statista (2024).  Online Gambling – Worldwide.  Available at: https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/eservices/online-gambling/worldwide. (Accessed February 11, 2024)

[6] Sayre, Katherine (February 18, 2024).  A Psychiatrist Tried to Quit Gambling. Betting Apps Kept Her Hooked.. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/gambling-addiction-sports-betting-apps-4463cde0?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1. (Accessed February 18, 2024).

[7] Mitchell, Alex (January 1, 2024). Young men face high risk for gambling addiction as sports betting surges: expert. Available at: https://nypost.com/2024/01/01/lifestyle/young-men-face-high-risk-for-gambling-addiction-as-sports-betting-surges-experts/. (Accessed February 21, 2024).

[8] (Sayre, 2024).

[9] Lending Tree (2024).  Average Credit Card Interest Rate in America – Today.  Available at: https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/average-credit-card-interest-rate-in-america/. (Accessed February 19, 2024)

[10] St. Bonaventure University (2024).  St. Bonaventure / Siena Research Survey Reveals almost 1 in 5 Americans have an online Sports Betting Account. Available at: https://www.sbu.edu/news/news-items/2024/02/05/st.-bonaventure-siena-research-survey-reveals-almost-1-in-5-americans-have-an-online-sports-betting-account. (Accessed February 17, 2024).

[11] (Sayre, 2024).

[12] Isaiah 5:1-2.  English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.

[13] 1-800 Gambler (2024).  FAQ’s – What is Problem Gambling.  Available at: https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faqs-what-is-problem-gambling/. (Accessed February 19, 2024)

[14] Ephesians 1:6.