Wanna Bet? 

Last year, there was an article in The Atlantic by journalist McKay Coppins, who received $10k from the magazine to try his hand at online sports betting for a year and report on the experience. Having no prior experience of sports betting, he was surprised how quickly it took over his life. He began obsessing over point spreads and prop bets and would look for opportunities to hide from his family to place bets. On one occasion his wife caught him checking his gambling app while at church. During football season he would watch sports for 5-6 hours on Sunday afternoons. When his wife complained about his inattentiveness to family responsibilities, he blew up at her, insisting he was doing these things for work. At one point he became frustrated with his losses, and became what’s called “on tilt,” desperately trying to get ahead by making reckless bets. He ended up losing $2500 in ten days. Looking back, he says at no point did he think there was anything wrong with what he was doing. 

Sports gambling has exploded in the U.S. since 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down existing federal restrictions on it. In 2017, Americans legally wagered $4.9 billion on sports. In 2025 they wagered $160 billion. Gambling sites and sports leagues have made a fortune under the new arrangement, and government officials see the taxes raised from gambling as a boon to state coffers (CT raised almost $30m from taxes on sports betting last year). But a growing number of people worry about the social harms of widespread gambling. In the past, access to vices like gambling was tolerated if restricted to certain “unsavory” locations. Now, with restrictions lifted, smart phones give us easy access to all kinds of vices, and many people are getting addicted, especially young men and boys. Reflecting on his own experience, Coppins says, “It’s kind of insane how quickly we as a society decided to unlearn the lessons that every civilization before us had learned which is that gambling is civilizationally ruinous and soul rotting and incredibly dangerous and should be kept at bay.” 

According to the Catechism, gambling is subject to the 7^th commandment, against stealing. It says: “Games of chance or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement” (CCC 2413). So, yes, gambling can be an acceptable form of entertainment. But before we risk money on wagers, we first must make sure – as a matter of justice – that we are sufficiently providing for the needs of our family, being mindful of the poor, and generously supporting the material needs of the Church. Failure to do so is actually a form of stealing. Moreover, watching an inordinate amount of sports is an injustice against one’s spouse and family, a kind of theft of the time and attention we owe them. Finally, societies have a grave responsibility to protect people, through regulation and even prohibition, from things that can easily become destructive addictions, and from the temptation to profit unjustly (ie: steal) from addiction. 

posted 6/13/26