Inside a Year of Immersive Sports Betting and Its Effects on Young Men
Journalist McKay Coppins spent a year betting on sports to understand why online wagering has surged among U.S. men under 50.
In a year-long experiment, McKay Coppins was given a $10,000 bankroll to gamble on sports apps, allowing him to feel the lure of online betting firsthand. He recounts how a small initial profit created a powerful urge to keep playing, leading to increasingly frequent bets and a growing preoccupation with game lines. One outlet highlights that more than half of men aged 18-49 hold active online sports-book accounts and that Americans wagered over $166 billion on sports last year.
Isaac Rose-Berman, a fellow at the American Institute for Boys and Men, warns that pervasive advertising normalizes betting for young men. Michael Holms, a 25-year-old gambler from Oklahoma, describes how betting has become a central part of his social life and influences his view of money. The program also references comments from public-health experts and industry critics about the broader societal risks of mobile gambling.
