When I was a first-year student in college, I was just leaving the gym when I spotted two guys holding wads of cash and talking to unsuspecting college students on my campus. I was confused, yet intrigued by the prospect of making a few dollars, so I walked towards them. They already had a jumble of people around them but called toward me, offering an interesting proposition.

The deal, one of the salesmen explained, was that I could get fifty free dollars as long as I spent it on five individual sports betting apps. I was shocked at first, thinking there was no way they were just giving out money to strangers. But as the crowd around them proved that they were serious about their deal, I decided to give it a try. I spent the next ten minutes downloading various sports betting apps and proving to the two salesmen that I had loaded ten dollars onto each one.

I went on to lose all the money that they gave me in less than a few days, but I was still thinking about the surprising offer that I was given. After my short conversation with the two salesmen, I learned that they were doing an internship for a company that would pay them exactly the amount that they gave out. This was mind-blowing to me, as they could just give out money for free and make a large amount of money doing so. Who was behind all of this? This led me to further research the sports betting industry and how they operate their businesses. While I never actually figured out what company was sponsoring this, it led me to dive deeper into the world of sports betting apps.

Below are some of the many ways that online sportsbooks entice people into placing their first bet:

Pay you to use their apps

As you can see from the short anecdote, paying people to use their apps is one of the primary ways sports betting companies get people hooked. At first, it may seem like a questionable business decision to simply give out money. The reason lies in how addicting these apps actually are. While not everyone will succumb to a gambling addiction, these companies rely on the fact that some will. Simply allowing people to feel the thrill of placing a bet or even better, winning a small amount, will undoubtedly keep people coming back. Luckily, I didn’t face any success with sports betting, so I figured it simply wasn’t for me. With the amount of money that online sportsbooks make, they have the capital to spend hundreds of millions on advertising efforts each year to get people into their destructive ecosystem, and handing out money is one of them.

Advertise, advertise, advertise

If you watch any sport at all, then you are definitely aware of the many sports gambling apps that are available: PrizePicks, FanDuel, and DraftKings to name a few. You might have seen these logos on sports courts, seen them endorsed on large platforms such as ESPN, and sponsoring almost every influencer in the sports world. The problem isn’t just the apps themselves, but the fact that sports betting is so integrated into the culture of sports as we know it today. You’ll hear talk show hosts discussing the betting odds of an important game that is on, rather than anything significant about the actual game. It's unavoidable. If you watch sports, then you are definitely exposed to sports betting, which can be detrimental to young and impressionable teens who are not educated in financial literacy. As a result, many people are disillusioned to believe that sports betting is not bad for them, when in reality it can have a range of downstream consequences.

Give out discounted bets

Once sports betting apps have you in their ecosystem, their main goal is to keep you there. One of the most successful methods of doing this is purposefully giving out discounted bets to get more people to spend their money. I specifically recall this past Super Bowl when all of my friends were talking about the free Travis Kelce over 0.5 yards square on PrizePicks. Turns out, this buzz is exactly what they were aiming for. They want people to be enticed by the prospect of a “really good deal,” even though there may be strings attached. At the end of the day, they want you to get a small taste of success or winnings, just enough to make you want to come back the next day.

As you can see from these three examples, when it comes to cash, sports betting apps have endless amounts to spend. As a result, they are able to find manipulative ways to get people into their sports gambling ecosystem. From there, natural human reward pathways will keep them coming back for a dopamine boost, and that’s how online gambling addiction has grown to be as big as it is right now.