Opinion Archives

The Decline Of ‘Responsible’ Sports Betting—But What’s Next Is Worse

October 20, 2025

The growing push to reframe sports betting as trading, predicting, or investing, has major implications for the “responsible gambling” model adopted by states. The word “betting” itself could be considered a euphemism for gambling, but the new terminology is even more troubling. The so-called “prediction market” sector, currently led by Kalshi and Polymarket but with…

Opinion, Prediction Markets

Billionaire Gambling Investor Calls Critics ‘The Antichrist’

Brian Pempus

October 10, 2025

German-American billionaire Peter Thiel, investor in the online betting platform Polymarket, has called critics of his investments “legionnaires of the Antichrist” in a series of threatening lectures, The Washington Post reported Friday. In leaked audio obtained by The Post, Thiel railed against what he believes are evil forces in U.S. society that criticize industries such…

Advertising, Opinion

LeBron’s Risky NFL Gambling Deal With DraftKings

Brian Pempus

August 29, 2025

LeBron James partnered with DraftKings to promote gambling on NFL games. Is it a risky bet?

Opinion, Prediction Markets

Opinion: Trump Jr. Is America’s New Sports Betting Czar

Brian Pempus

August 27, 2025

One could argue that the road to nationwide online sports betting goes through Donald Trump Jr. On Tuesday, Trump Jr. announced that his investment firm, 1789 Capital, had acquired a new stake in the gambling platform Polymarket, which is seeking to re-establish itself in the U.S. He also stated that he had joined the unicorn…

Opinion, Prediction Markets

Polymarket Publicly Shames Person Showing Signs Of Problem Gambling

Brian Pempus

August 12, 2025

The online gambling platform Polymarket publicly shamed one of its own customers who lost a large sum of money betting on sports. In early August 2025, Polymarket, which had recently resolved its legal trouble with the federal government in an effort to return to U.S. cyberspace, posted about the user on its X/Twitter account. Polymarket…