Finance expert and radio host Dave Ramsey slammed “evil” sports betting, claiming that it is destroying the next generation of men.
"The fastest-growing addiction that is destroying young men in their 20s is online sports gambling," Ramsey said during his show.
Key Takeaways
- Ramsey pointed that sportsbooks are funded by their customers’ losses.
- A recent study found that the average same-game parlay hold was around 24.3%.
- Casual bettors make up a tiny percentage of sportsbooks' revenue totals.
Ramsey’s self-titled show, which airs on a slew of radio stations and online streaming platforms, as well as YouTube, usually focuses on finances. Topics such as building wealth, escaping debt, and planning for the future are frequent topics.
Earlier this week, that took a turn.
Ramsey launched a diatribe against sportsbooks and gambling platforms, accusing them of corrupting an entire generation of young men.
"FanDuel is a portal to hell,” he said. “DraftKings ain’t king of anything except their pocketbook. And they are screwing an entire generation of young men.”
Online sports gambling is destroying a generation of young men. pic.twitter.com/uRlL6UlWWA
— Dave Ramsey (@DaveRamsey) January 6, 2026
The financial expert also offered a very simple verdict to betting against the house, which is always at an advantage thanks to the vig.
The vig is essentially a tax for placing a wager, and it means that sportsbooks have a higher expected value than the customer. That’s why anyone who wagers on standard -110/-110 odds needs to win 52.4% of their bets to break even, despite -110 effectively serving as the middleground in the sports betting world.
Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account"You don’t win,” he continued. “That’s why they can afford to buy ads. They’re back-to-back-to-back every time you turn on a sporting event. They’re spending billions of dollars. You know where they’re getting that? It’s out of your kid’s freaking pockets. This is evil stuff right here."
Sportsbooks stack their wins
Sportsbooks’ primary focus in recent years has been growing their hold, or the profit margin. They’ve gone about this in many different ways, but primarily by pushing parlays—multi-staged wagers that require multiple events to happen for the bet to cash—into customers’ laps.
Many casual sports bettors don’t risk more than $5 or $10 per wager. The opportunity to turn a hamburger’s worth of cash into a million dollars overnight becomes enticing because of its seemingly low-risk nature.
However, many other users are willing to increase their risk. Parlay bettors find themselves at the largest disadvantage, with a JP Morgan study highlighting data from Illinois that showed the average profit on parlays was about 18%. That’s more than three times the 5% for straight bets.
A Deutsche Bank study also found that the average hold on same-game parlay bets was around 24.3% in 2023, up from 19.2% in 2019.
Legal frameworks have also made it harder for customers to turn a profit with gambling. Illinois is a great example of that.
The state’s decision to replace its flat 15% tax rate with an adjustable 20-40% rate and to add a $.25-.50 per-bet tax prompted sportsbooks to implement several cost-saving protocols of which their customers took the brunt. Several opted to add per-bet surcharges for users, while others implemented minimum wager amounts.
Despite that, sports betting is just as popular as ever. Missouri, on Dec. 1, 2025, became the 39th state to launch its legal gambling market, and prediction markets have gained momentum by offering alternatives for customers in non-legal sports betting states who still want to win money with sports events.
Young men in danger?
Americans bet $150 billion on sports last year, and approximately 90% of sports wagers are placed via mobile device, meaning they are always within reach.
An Optimove study of nine million gamblers from the 2023 NFL season found that 60% of bettors account for just 1% of sportsbook revenue. That information suggests that casual bettors are far from the ones creating the biggest losses.
However, the study also echoed Ramsey’s critique, finding that young men were the most vulnerable group of gamblers.
