I used to play fantasy football (won the league a couple times too!) and when I was in an office, I’d fill out a March Madness bracket (never came close to winning). I’ll buy some squares for the Super Bowl, but avoided actual sports gambling.
I don’t think I experience the same thrill of winning that some others do when it comes to sports gambling.
It’s probably because I had zero hand in the outcome. “Picking” a winner isn’t enough for me, thankfully, so I largely avoid it.
That said, sports gambling is a HUGE industry and, as it turns out, one that’s really bad for us. The data supporting this belief is concrete.
Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake [The Atlantic] – “A growing body of social-science literature suggests that, yes, this is in fact quite different. The rise of sports gambling has caused a wave of financial and familial misery, one that falls disproportionately on the most economically precarious households. Six years into the experiment, the evidence is convincing: Legalizing sports gambling was a huge mistake.”