That was part of a major lobbying effort that the NYTimes just wrote a big investigative piece on.

> Four years ago, betting on live sports was illegal in most of the United States. Now, fans watching games or attending them at stadiums are barraged with advertisements encouraging them to bet on matchups, not just watch as spectators.

> This transformation in sports betting started nearly a decade ago, at first with the explosion of wagering on fantasy sports. Then in 2018, the Supreme Court cleared the way for states to legalize wagers on live games. Today, 31 states and Washington, D.C., permit sports gambling either online or in person, and five more states have passed laws that will allow such betting in the future. Professional sports in the U.S. now are part of a multibillion-dollar corporate gambling enterprise.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/briefing/gambling-sports-betting.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Can't watch TV without getting sportbetting rammed down your throat. Wild

Half of my son’s high school friends are basically gambling addicts.

We started banning this shit back when the only recreation available to most folks was books, rolling a wheel down a hill, and if you had some money maybe the one play your town had.

Casinos and other gambling halls were the form of entertainment but they also sapped your money since they were addicting.

Nowadays, we have other options that should hopefully distract you just enough to prevent you from spending your rent payment on dice.

Then again, we have things like Candy Crush and EA games sapping our dollars in much of the same way that slots and pinball used to do 100 years ago.

I just read the book “Straight Flush” and find it so infuriating how the government tries to stop adults from gambling. Like any drug just fucking legalize it and regulate it. As if sports betting is somehow worse than playing the mega millions run and sanctioned by the state.