We are seven years into the new world of legalized sports gambling. The world we were promised and the one we're getting are two very different things. Instead of taking the criminal element out, it's only expanded. And we're witnessing a fundamental shift in how players, coaches, and fans interact with the sports - and not for the better.

The first big claim from proponents of legalized sports gambling is that we'd get rid of the criminal element. Instead of placing bets on illegal sites or shady bookies, Americans could access safe and legal outlets. And on that count, we've seen the number of legal sportsbooks explode.

If you listen to, watch, or consume sports media of any kind, you're seeing those names everywhere. DraftKings and FanDuel are the most prominent players, but the smaller names are multiplying.

But while those legal outlets proliferate, the criminal elements are springing up to use them.

Aside from the sprawling investigation involving the NBA, authorities in New Jersey busted an illegal online sports gambling ring. Just as in the NBA scandal, this criminal investigation involves former athletes and ties to the mafia.

The people involved flaunt the high life they've lived off of these schemes.

Instead of getting put out of businesses, the literal mob has been cashing in on legalized sports gambling. Players and coaches are getting caught changing their performance to impact bet performances.

And even if the players aren't involved, they're getting treated differently in the pro-gambling era. The Athletic surveyed players across the major leagues and found similar opinions:

MLB: 78 percent of the 133 players The Athletic anonymously surveyed said legalized sports betting has changed how fans treat them or their teammates. Pitchers Liam Hendricks and Lance McCullers Jr. said they and their families were targeted with death threats.

NBA players reported similar sentiment: "Almost 50 percent of players said the NBA's partnerships with gambling companies is bad for the league, according to the anonymous survey."

Players were remarkably clear-eyed about the issue in the NBA. "Several players said the NBA was engaging in a clear conflict of interest. How can the league constantly promote gambling, then not expect players to engage in the activity, one player asked."

In short, players are seen not for being athletes but for the bottom-line results of betting outcomes. If they can't hit the betting results that fans demand, they they're getting trashed online and offline. "The threats that players are facing, and clearly some of the inducements that players are facing, are real and need to be dealt with, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said."

And this is just the professional leagues. We haven't even touched the college ranks and minor leagues for the big leagues. The monetary inducements for players will be far greater than at the professional level, and the checks will be easier to get around.

We're talking billions of dollars at stake across the board. DraftKings has an estimated valuation of $14-15 billion. FanDuel is private, but recent merger and acquisition activity suggests its value is double that, around $30 billion.

In 2024, the industry posted $13.7 billion in total revenue, with revenue rising. 2025 will shatter those numbers, just like 2024 shattered the numbers from 2023.

Recent survey data is showing the toll on Americans, too. "According to research tracking 7 million U.S. adults, states with legalized online sports betting have seen a 25-30% increase in bankruptcy filings and an 8% rise in debt sent to collections compared with states without such easy access. Meanwhile, a survey of sports bettors found that one in four say they've missed a bill payment because of gambling and 30% say they have debts they directly attribute to sports wagering. Another survey found more than half of sports bettors carry a credit card balance month to month."

We're not seeing the healthy expansion of a fun side hobby in America. We're witnessing an explosion of debt, wrecked lives, and changed relationships between fan and sport.

And truth be told, no one expects the recent busts by authorities to be the last. Just about every sports fan expects umpires and referees to get pulled into this, along with players, coaches, and executives. The pull is impossible to ignore in an industry this wide, with incentives pushing in one direction, and no pullback in sight.

It's a mess.

The longer this goes on, the worse the scandals will get, too. The mistakes the mafia is making now will differ in the coming years. They can't ignore the money any more than we can.

This experiment is going horribly awry, and it's time for states to recognize that.