John Oliver speaks out against US sports betting, highlighting issues

The late-night talk show host John Oliver has spoken out about sports betting and advertising in the US, as he urges for changes to be made.

Last week, the comedian delivered a monologue on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver which focused on the ease and influx of sports betting.

“The influence of these companies on sports now is just unmistakable and it is not just the ads, logos of the companies are on the field, or the floor, on the uniforms…”

John Oliver's main story tonight was about the influx and ease of sports betting these days. Perhaps he read the thousand or so anti-sports gambling posts of mine the last 15 years. He even singled out Wrigley.

BTW, don't bet on baseball.@Cubs #GoCubsGo #LastWeekTonight pic.twitter.com/DxfroeQweh

— Billy Krumb (@ClubhouseCancer) March 17, 2025

Some of the top sportsbooks are reported to spend between $50 to $200 million annually on marketing alone. According to EMarketer, the biggest player in US gambling and casino ad spend is TV which reached $471.8 million between January and November 2023.

This comes at a time when sports betting in the United States has seen a significant rise over the last few years, with online access easier than ever before.

Talk show host John Oliver speaks on sports betting during problem gambling awareness month

Since 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting, individual states have been able to decide whether they wish to legalize it. A total of 38 states have now legalized sports betting, with 29 allowing online and mobile sports betting.

“You’re not crazy for thinking those ads are inescapable,” said Oliver about the industry that has grown substantially.

Speaking on the ease of gambling now, the comedian went on to say that phone apps have meant people are “constantly nudged to bet on everything” and “ordinary people are getting exposed to extreme levels of gambling they might never have otherwise encountered.”

He continued to state that “every part of this system is set up to reel gamblers in and keep them playing” with advertising connections meaning that “everyone in the sports world has now become compromised by an industry that is able to prey on its more vulnerable customers with incredible precision.”

The focus on the topic has come during Problem Gambling Awareness Month, with this being a nationwide grassroots campaign that is held annually in March to increase public awareness of problem gambling and promote prevention, treatment,and recovery services.

“It shouldn’t be this easy to lose this much,” the late-night talk show host commented.

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