By Dr. Boyce Watkins
I need to send a warning to every parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, and young person who will listen.
I am deeply concerned about the explosive growth of sports betting.
What was once something you had to deliberately seek out is now sitting inside people’s phones. Betting advertisements are woven into sports broadcasts, social media, podcasts, and celebrity culture.
And I am especially concerned about young Black men.
The numbers caught my attention. Pew Research found that 31% of Americans under 30 had bet on sports during the previous year, including 36% of men under 30. Black Americans also reported sports betting at a higher rate than any other racial group measured in that survey: 30%, compared with 19% of White adults. Black Americans were also the group most likely to report betting on sports online.
Those numbers matter to me.
When you combine young age, male gender, heavy sports consumption, easy access to betting apps, and aggressive marketing, I believe we have a situation that deserves much more attention.
And then there are the celebrity endorsements.
Young Black men are watching famous athletes, entertainers, comedians, and influencers promote gambling platforms. Research on sports-betting advertising has found that celebrity endorsers who strongly identify with an audience can increase intentions to bet and promote the sportsbook through word of mouth.
That’s why I’m screaming this warning from the rooftops.
Because gambling addiction isn’t just about losing a few dollars.
It can lead to debt.
Borrowing money.
Lying to family members.
Relationship problems.
Depression.
Chasing losses.
Financial desperation.
And in severe cases, enormous damage to a person’s mental health and future.
One national poll found that 10% of men ages 18–30 screened as problem gamblers, compared with 3% of the overall population surveyed. Research also identifies young men as a group at disproportionately elevated risk for gambling problems.
I don’t want our young people learning to chase jackpots when they could be learning to acquire assets.
I don’t want them confusing gambling with investing.
I don’t want a generation of brilliant young men handing their economic futures to an algorithm designed to keep them clicking.
We have to talk about this.
We have to teach our children the difference between building wealth and chasing money.
I discussed this issue in my Money in the Morning training because financial education isn’t simply about learning how to make money.
It’s also about learning how to protect yourself from systems designed to take it away from you.
If you’d like to join Money in the Morning, visit:
MoneyInTheMorning.com. You can get a wake-up call each morning by texting the word Morning to the number 87948.
The class is 100% free for anybody who wants to learn the secrets of Black economics, investing, wealth building, and financial power.
Please share this warning with the young men in your family.
Sometimes protecting the next generation starts with making sure they understand what’s happening around them.
Please take care.
Dr Boyce Watkins is a Finance PhD, best-selling author, and founder of The Black Business School. He can be reached at boyce@boycewatkins.com.
