Gambling. Investing. Gaming. There’s No Difference Anymore.; The New York Times, October 20, 2025

Jonathan D. Cohen and Isaac Rose-Berman, The New York Times ; Gambling. Investing. Gaming. There’s No Difference Anymore.

[Kip Currier: It's good to see online gambling issues getting more attention, as in this 10/20/25 New York Times Op-Ed. One of the piece's writers is Jonathan D. Cohen, author of the 2025 book “Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling".

I spoke on these issues in my talk -- AI Gambling Thirst Traps and God: Christian Imperatives, Church Roles, and Ethical Responsibilities -- at the September 2-5, 2025 Faithful Futures: Guiding AI with Wisdom and Witness conference in Minneapolis. A publication based on the talk is forthcoming.]

[Excerpt]

"If it feels as if gambling is everywhere, that’s because it is. But today’s gamblers aren’t just retirees at poker tables. They’re young men on smartphones. And thanks to a series of quasi-legal innovations by the online wagering industry, Americans can now bet on virtually anything from their investment accounts. 

In recent years, this industry has been gamifying the investing experience; on brightly colored smartphone apps, risking your money is as easy and attractive as playing Candy Crush. On the app of the investment brokerage Robinhood, users can now buy stocks on one tab, “bet” on Oscars outcomes on another, and trade crypto on a third.

Given a recent explosion in unsafe gambling and growing evidence of severe financial harm, one might ask whether the government should be permitting 18-year-olds to effectively bet on the Dallas Cowboys with the same accounts they can use to invest in Coca-Cola. Under President Trump, who has a son serving as an adviser to two entrants in the sports prediction marketplace, the answer appears to be a firm yes."

What’s the Deal With All Those FanDuel Ads?; The New York Times, October 12, 2025

 Jordyn Holman, The New York Times; What’s the Deal With All Those FanDuel Ads?

 "Since sports betting became legal in America on a state-by-state basis in 2018, a crop of online sportsbooks have fought aggressively for attention. FanDuel, whose parent company is Flutter Entertainment, is the largest, with more than 40 percent of the market.

Flutter, named after British slang for a small bet, is also the biggest online gambling company in the world, with brands like Britain’s Betfair, Ireland’s Paddy Power and Australia’s Sportsbet. It recorded 16 million average monthly users in its latest quarter.

Last year, Flutter brought in $14 billion in revenue, a 19 percent jump from 2023. It expects double-digit growth to continue this year.

Peter Jackson, Flutter’s chief executive since 2018, still sees room to grow in America, where big states like California and Texas bar online gambling.

As more people become aware of the ease of betting on their phones, on any number of moments within games, there is a push by regulators and public health officials to rein in the industry.

“People have and will always gamble,” Mr. Jackson, 49, said. “What we do is we offer a safe environment for people to do it.”

And as for all those ads? They are not letting up, he said...

People are seeing a lot of ads about sports betting. What differentiates FanDuel from the rest?

With the FanDuel brand, we spend a billion dollars on advertising and promotions. Historically, a lot was focused on bringing to life the sports betting concept into the U.S., because it was relatively new. We’re not that many years into people being able to legally bet on sports, and still only half of Americans can do it today.

But this year, we’ve slightly changed our tone. It’s really important that we start to distinguish our brand so people recognize how much better we are, and do a little bit less heavy lifting for the category and get a little more selfish.

How many FanDuel commercials is too many Fan Duel commercials?

This is the conundrum that we have around the world. At least we’re not advertising auto insurance."

America goes gambling; Quartz, October 5, 2025

Jackie Snow, Quartz; America goes gambling

[Kip Currier: This Quartz article America Goes Gambling is a timely one about a significant AI-driven development: massive growth in online gambling, sports betting, and gambling addictions after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a de facto ban on these activities (outside of Nevada and tribal casinos) in 2018's Murphy v. NCAA decision.

I spoke on the issue of AI-enhanced online gambling and sports betting at the September 2025 Faithful Futures: Guiding AI with Wisdom and Witness conference in Minneapolis and am currently finishing a chapter for publication on this emerging topic.]

[Excerpt]

"On any given Sunday this football season, Americans are placing millions in legal sports bets, a level of widespread wagering that would have been almost impossible a decade ago when only Nevada offered legal sportsbooks.

Today's football slate represents the peak of a sports betting boom that has fundamentally altered how Americans watch games. Sunday's action is part of an industry that's grown from $4.9 billion in total annual wagers in 2017 to almost $150 billion in 2024. But beneath the Sunday spectacle lies a growing concern about addiction specialists reporting record demand for gambling help as the line between sports entertainment and financial risk becomes increasingly blurred.

The transformation has been swift and dramatic. When the Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in Murphy v. NCAA in 2018, legal sports betting was confined to Nevada and tribal casinos. Today, legal sports betting operates in 39 states and Washington, D.C., with more statehouses considering laws that would greenlight it."