A year ago, students in North Carolina would watch sports like football, baseball,, and basketball for the love of the sport. But as soon as March of 2024 came around, they would watch it for a whole other reason.

While sports gambling has mainly been just for adults, high school students have participated in betting on professional, college, and even high school sports. With many online sports betting apps, betting on games has become one of the most popular trends in high schools around the area. High schoolers often view sports betting as an exciting way to gain interest in sports while also competing with their friends to potentially earn money.Whether it’s something simple like joining a free fantasy league or something as dangerous as putting your paycheck on the Panthers making it to the Super Bowl, almost all sports fans have competed with their friends to make a few extra dollars. It isn’t a wise choice to bet your money on something that you have no control over, but hey, do what makes you happy.

“Every August I join around three fantasy leagues and spend around $100 in total,” said senior Noah Faulders. “Even though I only won one league, I still made 250 bucks.”

Now there are some positives to sports gambling,, as it enhances your knowledge of sports,, and it also helps students use strategic thinking. For example, in your fantasy league,, you’re not going to put Bryce Young in your starting lineup if you have someone like Patrick Mahomes on the bench; it just doesn’t make sense.

“You really have to think about what players do good or bad against certain teams,” said Faulders. “I have pretty good football knowledge,, but I still research stats just to make sure I win.”

To cancel out these positives,, here are some negative outcomes to gambling on sports. 16% of sports gamblers are addicted and keep betting their money away to someday “hit big.” There is also a high chance students didn’t work for their money, and they are just gambling away their birthday money to see if Ben Simmons will go over or under on threes made for the night. How would you feel if your kid bet on something like that?

Sports betting has gained so much in popularity; at the same time, it has also ruined people’s love for the sport by creating bad money habits and the way it gets you addicted to it.

“I used to like betting on football games,” said junior Kevin Bland. “But being a Saints fan made me lose all my money, so now I hate it.”