What happens when a generation of sports fans are swallowed up by gambling?

The problem with voicing concerns about legalizing sports betting is that you're guaranteed to be dismissed as a pious, self-indulgent, speech-talking, unworldly nutcase.

But that's me on a good day, so what the heck and here goes: I'm uncomfortable with legalized sports betting.

I also recognize that it is here to stay. If you tell me that you converted some of your salary into betting on the Dodgers-Giants series last week, I'll tell you: Good. The games were played at Dodger Stadium in 2024, not Ebbets Field in 1954, the latter being a place and time in which gambling was prevalent, albeit obscurely. It was also a place and a time when play-by-play barkers Red Barber and Vin Scully sat up there in the booth guzzling Schaefer beer, not FanDuel. That was all a long time ago. That is today. And you and I are citizens of today. (Disclosure: BetMGM is the exclusive sports betting partner of The athlete.)

But the beer/gambling analogy is a good starting point for where I want to go with this. Beer was legal then and still is today. The same goes for harder forms of alcohol. These days, however, we're expected to be cautious about indulging ourselves, even though television advertising generally only expresses this in passing, if they even bother to do so.

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And yet sometimes beer companies pleasantly surprise us, as the Budweiser people did a few years ago with the commercial showing a young man going out for the night with his friends and leaving his dog at home. The night grows dark and we see a series of shots of the poor dog, lonely and worried. And we, the viewers, are now worried too, leaning a little closer to the TV and fearing that something has gone terribly wrong. The spot feeds this fear by transitioning to a somber message on a black background: “For some, the wait never ended.”

Luckily, the sun rises, the door opens and the young man is there to hug his dog and explain in many words that he ate a few too many last night and decided to stop by his friend's house. The spot works because it seems like the message is being conveyed not to you, but to yourself – simply You. It is not complicated by the fact that a very serious voice actor warns you not to drink alcohol and drive. There is no fine print at the bottom of the screen to comply with a government-issued regulation. They show you a guy and a dog, and then they spread the story about a terrible car accident. But there is no such thing as a terrible car accident. Responsibility and maturity take over and the spot ends with the young man hugging his dog. “I’m back,” he says. “I'm back.” And then he says it again. “I'm back.”

It's brilliant. And it's exactly the kind of message that needs to be conveyed to sports bettors. Of course that doesn't happen. Instead, it's all glitz and glamour. It's Tom Brady and Vince Vaughn. It says “Bet $5, Get $150” and “New Player Offers 100% Deposit Bonus”. Yes, the spots have little warnings at the bottom of the screen, including: “Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.” Although I'm sure many people have called this number to get help with their gambling addiction, it seems to me like it's nothing more than the government-mandated warning on a cigarette pack.

Common sense tells us that the ads are aimed at the younger demographic. Sports betting is marketed as cool, fun and sexy. I'm sure there's a bit of FOMO going on too: you know your friends are betting on the games, so you grab your phone and start betting on the games.

Yes, the problem is bigger than all of this. We should also be concerned about athletes falling for the cheesy side of sports betting. We should also worry about athletes suffering the wrath of angry fans. Accordingly The athleteDavid Aldridge of 's: “…at least one (NBA) team has added an extra security guard to its bench this season in response to increasing gambling-fueled combativeness.” Another team has beefed up its cybersecurity staff to deal with particularly vile ones Detecting malice sent from fans to its players online.”

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And then there is the hypocrisy of professional sports leagues colluding with sportsbooks while issuing all sorts of rules and regulations to keep their current athletes from jumping into the pool.

“If the integrity of the game were truly paramount,” he writes The athleteJim Trotter says: “Gambling and any association with it would be prohibited. Period. There would be no workarounds that would allow players to bet on a sport other than their own. Don't you like it? Find another workspace. But instead of erecting virtual barriers to protect the game, sports leagues continue to open their doors and arms.”

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These are legitimate concerns. But I'm less worried about athletes being booed and leagues abandoning their integrity than I am about an entire generation of sports fans being swallowed up by gambling. It is something that deserves ongoing dialogue – at home, at school, in the media. It would be nice if we had a tear-jerking commercial that could teach us this lesson through a guy, his dog, and a night out with friends, but that would be naive. (Who came up with this Budweiser commercial? Please drop me a line. Maybe we can work on something that uses the simplicity and sentimental touch of this old beer commercial to address a modern problem.)

The concern is not that the new sports bettors will get into trouble. The worry is that they will never save anything for the future. Or maybe this is the point at which Millennials and Generation Z decide to prioritize other things instead of jumping on the increasingly complicated treadmill method of saving for a house.

If it's a philosophical thing then stop reading and move on. But if it's not philosophical — that is, if you're delving into sports betting — there's an ancient (as in, baby boomer-style) savings practice that can help you. It's called the self-paying principle, where you allocate a portion of your income each month toward some form of savings, be it a 401(k), an index fund, or another long-term investment. The concept is that you pay yourself with the same continuity that you pay your rent, utilities, car loans, etc. Next, calculate how much you spend each month on entertainment – dining out, movies, clubs, excursions, etc. And then make a trade with yourself: you can only bet money on sports that come from your entertainment quota. The rest is taboo.

I admit, this is all pretty quaint and naive. But the way I imagine it, the audience that lives for the action and thrill of sports betting tuned me out seven paragraphs ago.

If you're still reading, this is for you.

(Photo of former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski promoting the FanDuel Kick of Destiny before the 2023 Super Bowl: Cheryl Evans / USA Today)