Over the years, betting on sports events has become a very popular investment for many sports fans. Many feel as though the act of betting on sports events brings an additional level of excitement for the fans. With more and more betting apps and websites becoming legal, the community is growing at a rapid pace. According to Visual Capitalist, in 2022 the sports betting market showed the fastest growth out of all commercial gaming segments, with the increase being a staggering 75% increase in revenue year-by-year.

However, with a lot of excitement comes a lot of risks. With sports betting involving real money, it is very common for fans participating in this hobby to lose large amounts of money, especially those who bet on sports events on the daily or fairly often. The “idea” that you can win large amounts of money tends to get over people’s heads, causing them to sometimes lose money which is the opposite of what they thought was going to happen. According to Sit Picks, only somewhere between 3-5% of all sports bettors are profitable in the long run, proving that your chances of actually making money from bets are very slim. This is also a large reason why addictions to sports betting and gambling start; Those who become really invested in the hobby likely become victims of consistently putting large amounts of money down for bets with the chance of winning big.

There is the other side of this argument, however, where many fans feel that the extra challenge and excitement is well worth the various amounts of money. As stated by senior Diego Sosa, “I enjoy sports betting because I love the excitement of having something extra on the line, and you can certainly win money if you are smart with your bets.” There will always be highs and lows when it comes to sports betting, but many fans feel that the chances of the highs is well worth a certain amount of money. It certainly must be said that the satisfaction that bettors get when they win any amount of money is incredible, which has made sports betting immensely more popular over the past few years.

Sports events are still very exciting and entertaining, even without having money on the line. One can say that having a chance to win large amounts of money while enjoying a sports event is a good combination, but people tend to forget about the other side of what could happen. While having bets on sports events can bring an extra boost of excitement and entertainment, it almost certainly adds an extra level of stress, especially when you’re watching your favorite team. It is very common for betters to lose money from one of their bets, which could very well ruin their overall game or event watching experience.

As stated by senior Matthew Adams, “Sports betting is certainly not worth it because you can find plenty of enjoyment while watching a sports game without having to worry about having money on the line. It’s also very easy to become addicted to sports betting since it only takes one bet that makes you profit to make you want to constantly make more bets.” There’s not many worse feelings than having your sports team lose a game while you lose a lot of money from the bet that you had placed on them. There will always be that sliver of hope for sports bettors to win a lot of money, but the data shows that actually making profit off of bets is very slim. The chance to both lose the sports event and lose large amounts of money is not worth it and fans should just enjoy the excitement from the game for what it is.