udxgk Raise_the_Stakes BY ZAIRA AHMAD, GIANNA LIU, ZOE SMITH & HENRY TIMMER-HACKERT ART, DESIGN & PHOTOS BY MCKENNA STEPHENS
Recent college betting scandals and online betting popularity shed light on how gambling affects adolescents, including students at West.
H
eadlines were made, athletes were arrested and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) suspended players. The University of Iowa and Iowa State University recently made sports news headlines nationwide, not for their performance, but for illegal gambling.
THE GAME
O
ver the summer, 17 University of Iowa and Iowa State University collegiate athletes were suspended from playing after being caught using betting apps and, in some cases, placing money against their own teams. The case that stirred the most attention involves Hunter Dekkers, Iowa State’s starting quarterback, who pleaded guilty to betting on DraftKings between November 2021 and May 2023. At the time, Dekkers was underage and used his mother’s DraftKings account to bet. The NCAA prohibits gambling and betting for its collegiate athletes; the organization addressed
the consequences for those who participate in sports wagering and set rules to protect the future of sports integrity. Since the Supreme Court overturned a ban on sports betting in May 2018 and Iowa legalized it August 2019, the industry has rapidly expanded. In the past five years, Americans have put over $220 billion in sportsbooks such as FanDuel and DraftKings. However, it does not stop there. Sportsbooks push their promotion onto television and social media platforms — advertisements flood the screen on ESPN and BIG 10 Network. Adults are not the only people viewing these ads, with sportsbooks also reaching the minds of teenagers, including students at West. In Iowa, the age requirement for sports betting is 21, but teens find loopholes to access apps and start betting. There are several ways to cheat the system, such as minors using off-shore gambling sites that are less age-restricted or taking a parent’s ID to set up accounts. When sports betting was first legalized in Iowa in 2019, people were required to create an account in-person at one of Iowa’s licensed casinos. As of 2021, registration for sportsbooks can be made online at a moment’s notice. Additionally, some sportsbooks only require proof of age when removing money. This creates an easy way for anyone to start betting online, including West students. WSS interviewed one of these students who sports bets with a DraftKings account. “With the social media algorithms, I would start to see more sports betting on TikTok and Instagram. For someone
that is very interested in sports, it seemed like a progression,” an anonymous source said. Algorithms aren’t the only avenues popularizing sports betting. In the past few years, betting companies’ spending on advertising has increased rapidly. DraftKings alone spent $1.19 billion on advertising in 2022, doubling the amount spent in 2021. Companies also gain attention from those who showcase their sports betting on social media. X, formally known as Twitter, is one of the primary platforms bettors use. According to Twitter Insiders studies, 62% of bettors posting on X place wagers weekly and spend 15% more on bets annually compared to those on other platforms. Additionally, the social aspect of betting on media platforms such as X leads to an increase in bets, especially on big games. Seventy-two percent of bettors check X to follow the status of their live bets once they have made them, and 65% say they are more motivated to place a bet on a big event that everyone is talking about on social media. As a part of the younger generation, the anonymous source witnessed the rise in gambling trends and advertisements. “[Betting] is definitely accessible, and the world of sports gambling has definitely grown. There is a push to appeal to a younger generation to get more people into it,” the anonymous source said. These efforts also come from the sports industry as a whole. The NBA, NFL and MLB have all signed major deals with sportsbook companies, including DraftKings, FanDuel, MGM and Caesars Entertainment. Leagues will now advertise these companies as official sportsbook platforms with special perks. Official sources from the