Sports betting is less stigmatized and more accessible than it’s ever been. But it’s still dangerous. Christians should oppose it.
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I was a student-athlete at Auburn University in the late 1990s, and one of our preseason meetings was about the dangers of gambling, specifically sports betting. We were warned about its connection to organized crime and its danger to the integrity of the game. Numerous examples reinforced the perils and stigma of sports betting.
When I was a young college football coach, I remember hearing of a head coach at a major university who was fired for violating the NCAA’s gambling policy by betting on the NCAA basketball tournament. I heard stories of scandals involving athletes and coaches cheating, often involving betting on their team’s games. I remember churches teaching about gambling as a moral stain on our communities and an insidious vice that damaged families and communities alike. Christians were encouraged to avoid it in all its forms.
