As Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling recently told Washington Watch, prediction markets are enticing people as young as18 to wager on real-life events like sports and pop culture, including the recent Academy Awards.
"Kalshi and Polymarket were actively encouraging people to wager on which movie was going to get best picture, which actor or actress was going to win the best actor award," he reported. "It's constantly pushing people to wager on things that we never would have thought we could wager on."
In college athletics, gambling threatens both the integrity of games and the well-being of student-athletes. Players may face pressure to fix games or accept bribes, violating National College Athletic Association rules and potentially breaking the law.
Teams and schools also suffer as trust erodes and programs face sanctions, fines and reputational damage. The rise of online and legal sports betting has made these risks more immediate, while a culture that normalizes gambling adds pressure on athletes to participate.
As another example of a real-life event, Bernal said people can even bet on how many drivers are going to run a red light.
"A lot of municipalities film intersections, and so you have these livestreams now of people sitting around and wagering on how many cars are going to run a red light," Bernal noted. "They do it for hours."
Because people only have to be 18 years old to sign on to these prediction market gambling apps, he agreed with The Wall Street Journal that a "huge epidemic" of gambling addiction has been created.
"Young people [are] on these gambling apps relentlessly," Bernal reiterated.
Beyond legal issues, gambling can lead to addiction, stress and academic or athletic distractions. According to Bernal, the number-one demographic calling gambling addiction hotlines are young adults and teens.
