Tonight in Unpacks: With sports gambling as easy as pulling out your smartphone, leagues and sportsbooks are working to prevent fans from becoming gambling addicts. But is anyone listening to the warnings and using the tools available to stave off addiction, asks SBJ's Bill King in an Early Access look at next week's magazine.
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The perils of mobile betting and problem gambling for fans
The modern, tricked-out sportsbook apps that now live on the mobile screens of more than 20 million U.S. adults not only allow for a dizzying array of bets but also come equipped with a level-headed menu of controls meant to keep recreation from spiraling into addiction.
In spite of recommendations to “Set Limits” that are laid out in every public service campaign, fewer than 5% of bettors use those tools.
In next week's magazine, SBJ's Bill King goes in-depth on the risk of addiction rising with the advent of mobile betting -- and how leagues and sportsbooks are working to educate fans and develop tools to identify problem gambling. Get an Early Access look at the piece here.
Getty Images / illustration by Liz Spangler