Is Sports betting sinful?

Football season is upon us once again!  In just a few short weeks there will almost be no days where a college or professional football game cannot be found on TV.  My wife thinks that is ridiculous – I think it’s heaven.  And, since my beloved Seattle Seahawks are the reigning Super Bowl Champions, this reality carries an extra measure of delight for me.

It is also one of the reasons I found a recent article from Fortune magazine compelling.  It suggests that gambling has now become America’s favorite form of entertainment, and the numbers back it up.

Fantasy football leagues, gambling apps, parlays, point spreads, over/unders, futures, teasers, pick-ems, micro-betting, prediction markets – sports betting has eclipsed all other forms of entertainment in America. 

So, I thought it would be fruitful to offer an article that can start a good conversation about how Christians should approach sports gambling.

Should Christians Bet on Sports?

Sports betting has become almost impossible to avoid.

Turn on a football game and odds are scrolling across the screen. Listen to a sports podcast and you will probably hear an advertisement for a sportsbook. Open an app and you can bet not only on who wins the game, but who scores first, how many yards a quarterback throws for, or what happens on the next drive. What was once largely confined to Las Vegas or an office pool has become part of mainstream American sports culture.

And the numbers are staggering.

According to a recent Fortune article, Americans legally wagered approximately $166 billion on sports in 2025. For perspective, that is more than twice the combined revenue generated by the American movie, recorded and live music, book, and museum industries. Because that number does not include some tribal gaming and prediction markets, economists believe the actual amount wagered could be considerably higher—perhaps approaching $300 billion.¹

So how should Christians think about it?

I want to begin with an important distinction: I do not believe placing a sports bet is inherently sinful. There is no passage in Scripture that says, “You shall not gamble,” and we should be careful about declaring something sinful when Scripture does not. At the same time, simply asking whether something is technically a sin sets the bar for Christian living far too low.  

By the way, my goal here is not to offer an exhaustive treatment of gambling.  For an in depth article that explores the Christian perspective on gambling, HERE is an a good one from my friend Daniel McCoy at Renew.org.

But for this article a good question to ask, as football season begins, is whether we can participate in something with wisdom, self-control, good stewardship, and a clear conscience before God.

When entertainment begins to master us

One of the most sobering findings in the Fortune article is that gambling losses are not distributed evenly. Roughly 95 percent of total sports-betting losses are absorbed by only 5 percent of bettors. The person who occasionally puts $10 or $20 on a football game is probably not the primary concern. The danger is the smaller group for whom occasional entertainment slowly becomes something much more powerful.²

This is particularly important because modern sports betting is designed to be incredibly easy. There is no longer a need to drive to a casino or find a bookmaker. For millions of Americans, a casino essentially lives in their pocket.

Sports-betting platforms can also identify when customers have stopped participating and use promotions and “free bets” to draw them back in. Parlays, live in-game wagering, and proposition bets create opportunities to wager throughout an entire game. These features are designed to increase engagement and keep people betting.³ In other words, today’s algorithms are intentionally designed to continually draw a person in and amplify their wagering.

You already know this, but we are being manipulated.

That should matter to Christians because Paul gives us an important principle in 1 Corinthians 6:12: “I have the right to do anything - but I will not be mastered by anything.”

Something doesn't necessarily have to be sinful to become spiritually unhealthy. Alcohol can master us. Food can master us. Social media can master us. Money can master us. And gambling can master us.

So perhaps one of the most important questions a Christian sports bettor should regularly ask is surprisingly simple: Can I easily stop? 

If I find myself constantly checking lines, increasing my wagers, chasing losses, hiding how much I am betting, or needing money on a game in order to enjoy watching it, something that began as entertainment may be becoming my master.

What is happening to my relationship with money?

Scripture has a great deal to say about money.  In fact, there are nearly 2,300 references to money, wealth, generosity and financial stewardship.  When you compare that to the number of combined references to faith, prayer and evangelism (around 1,200), it’s pretty easy to conclude that God feels that money can easily trip us up spiritually.   And, one of Scriptures consistent warnings about money concerns our desire to acquire it quickly. 

Proverbs 13:11 says, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” Paul similarly warns that “those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap” (1 Timothy 6:9).

This doesn't mean everyone who puts $20 on the Super Bowl is trying to get rich. But it does mean Christians should pay attention to what betting begins to awaken inside us.

Sports betting is particularly deceptive because sports fans often believe their knowledge gives them an advantage. We know the teams. We study the players. We follow injuries and statistics. Unlike a roulette wheel, sports betting can feel like something we can master if we simply know enough. Economists describe this as an “illusion of control.” Sportsbooks, however, have access to enormous amounts of the same information and build that knowledge into their betting lines.⁴

A Christian should therefore honestly ask: Am I doing this because it makes watching the game a little more entertaining, or am I beginning to see gambling as a way to make money?

Those are two very different things, and one just needs to be honest and careful.

Am I being a faithful steward?

Jesus repeatedly taught that the way we handle money reveals something about our hearts. Our money ultimately belongs to God, and we are stewards of what He has entrusted to us.

That doesn't mean Christians can never spend money purely for entertainment. We buy golf clubs, concert tickets, vacations, and expensive dinners knowing we will receive no financial return. Spending $20 for entertainment isn't automatically poor stewardship simply because the entertainment happens to involve a wager.

But there is an important difference between spending money we have intentionally set aside for entertainment and risking money we actually need.

The Fortune article points to research finding increased credit-card delinquencies among millennials and Gen Z in states where sports betting is legal, evidence that some bettors may be financing gambling with debt. Even more concerning, about one-quarter of sports bettors surveyed said they worry that they cannot control their gambling.⁵

Those statistics should get our attention.

If gambling begins consuming money needed for bills, generosity, savings, retirement, our families, or other responsibilities God has given us, the question is no longer whether sports betting itself is sinful. Our stewardship has become the issue.

Christian freedom still requires Christian wisdom

There is another consideration Christians shouldn't ignore: other people.

Paul spent considerable time teaching Christians how to handle activities that were not inherently sinful but could become spiritually destructive to someone else. His conclusion was not that Christians should create endless rules for one another. His conclusion was that love should sometimes limit our liberty.

“Be careful,” Paul wrote, “that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9).

That doesn't mean Christians must abstain from sports betting because someone somewhere struggles with gambling. But it does mean we shouldn't casually encourage something that may be destroying the person sitting beside us. For one Christian, occasionally putting a few dollars on a game may remain harmless entertainment. For another, downloading that same app may open a door he desperately needs to keep closed.  This reality requires discernment and care around how our freedom affects others.

That is why I don't think the best question is simply, “Is sports betting a sin?”

Scripture calls us to something deeper than determining how close we can get to a line without crossing it. It calls us to wisdom, stewardship, self-control, love for others, and freedom from anything that seeks to master us.

Maybe the better questions are these: Is this feeding greed in me? Is it mastering me? Am I being a faithful steward? And could the exercise of my freedom hurt someone else?

Christians may answer those questions differently and still faithfully follow Jesus. But in a culture where gambling has never been easier, more normalized, or more aggressively marketed, we should at least be asking them.

Mature Christian freedom is not simply asking, “Am I allowed to do this?” It is having the wisdom to also ask, “Is this good for me, is it good for others, and is it helping me become more like Christ?”

Daren Overstreet

Daren is a Senior Leader at Anchor Point Church in Tampa, Florida.  He has been in ministry for nearly 30 years, and holds a Master’s Degree in Missional Theology

You can contact him at

daren@anchorpointtampa.org  

1. Catherina Gioino, “Gambling Becomes America’s Favorite Pastime as Americans Spend More on Sports Bets Than Movies, Arts, Museums, and Music Combined,” Fortune, July 26, 2026. The article reports approximately $166 billion in disclosed sports wagers during 2025 and cites economist Victor Matheson’s estimate that total wagering, including prediction markets and some undisclosed tribal gaming, could approach $300 billion.

2. Ibid. Fortune reports Matheson’s estimate that approximately 95 percent of total sports-betting losses are borne by 5 percent of bettors.

3. Ibid. The article discusses sportsbook efforts to identify customers who have stopped betting and draw them back through promotions, as well as the increased engagement created by parlays, proposition bets, and live in-game wagering.

4. Ibid. Matheson describes the “illusion of control” that can accompany sports betting, particularly among knowledgeable sports fans who believe additional research or expertise can give them an advantage over betting markets.

5. Ibid. Fortune cites Federal Reserve Bank of New York research concerning increased credit-card delinquencies among younger consumers in states with legal sports betting, as well as a U.S. News & World Report survey finding that approximately one-quarter of sports bettors worry they cannot control their gambling.