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The Rising Human Cost of Sports Betting

The ends of the college and pro football seasons were already a perilous time for people recovering from a gambling addiction. Then came the onslaught of ads for legal sports betting.

Click to view the original at nytimes.com

Hasnain says:

“Think about it. After years of consumer lawsuits and investigations that showed the tobacco industry was doing all it could to get people hooked on a deadly product, the Food and Drug Administration severely limited cigarette advertising: The last Marlboro Man commercial aired in 1999. You cannot buy a pack of cigarettes without being confronted by a label warning that smoking can lead to cancer, lung disease, diabetes or other terrible diseases.

But if you tune in during Super Bowl week, be ready to ingest an unrelenting stream of carnival barker ads. They will gush over how you can wager during the game on everything from the coin toss to who will be the first receiver to catch a pass. They will hype the fun of parlay bets and so-called risk-free bets, which are not risk free at all.

There’s a cost. It can devastate.”

Posted on 2022-02-01T07:19:35+0000