McMinnville Opinion
What used to require a trip to a casino or racetrack is now available continuously, privately and almost anywhere.
Gambling has become incredibly pervasive. The smartphone has transformed gambling.
Now there are three new online markets driving the growth in worldwide gambling — sports betting, casino-type games and prediction markets, which allow participants to bet on whether something will or will not happen and when.
According to a recent report (National Council on Problem Gambling) about 46 to 60% of adults — about 2.3 billion people — gambled in the last 12 months, according to worldwide surveys spanning multiple years.
Youth and young adults are disproportionately affected, as 36% of boys ages 11 to 17 in the United States reported gambling last year. A substantial percentage of 18- to 29-year-old women are also gambling. Sports betting is especially rampant among these demographics.
The global gambling industry generated estimated revenues of $758 billion in 2025.
Of course, the industry’s revenue is the gambler’s loss. Simply put, the industry’s entire business model is built on its customers losing money.
However, there is a larger concern with gambling beyond losing money on individual wagers. Continuous, mobile access can transform occasional entertainment into repeated behavior that displaces savings, increases debt and creates far-reaching family and social costs.
Each gambling activity has an “opportunity cost.” In other words, if we spend time doing one thing, we lose the opportunity to do another.
What is the opportunity cost of gambling? You forgo you and your family’s security in terms of money, time, relationships and worthwhile pursuits. Where does that lead?
Gambling is built on the desire to obtain a great something for almost nothing. Its structure requires that any gain comes at others’ expense. It’s hard to reconcile that with the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.
In addition, our resources are stewardships, and the question is not merely whether a purchase is legal but whether it builds anything — in us, in our families or in those around us. In the end, gambling produces nothing of value and enriches only its purveyors.
While work leads to prosperous, just and equitable societies, gambling leads in the opposite direction — even when done for fun.
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