Corporate influence in elections is certainly no secret. Since 2008, spending on lobbying in the United States has averaged about $3.3 billion per year.

While lobbying discourse often focuses on healthcare groups or tech companies, one group that goes under the radar and seems to be growing in influence is the sports betting industry.

Sports betting has become an incredibly profitable industry, hitting a record revenue of $16.96 billion in 2025. It has also become a controversial industry due to its addictive nature, as gambling disorder diagnoses have increased by 60 percent since 2018.

With their popularity, sports betting apps have turned to lobbying to ensure they continue to grow in profit at the expense of many whose lives are ruined by gambling. The industry has spent heavily in state legislatures to legalize the practice and limit taxation and regulations. DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics have put $41 million into a political action committee called Win for America, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Win for America has two other outside groups: American Future, which engages in Democratic primary races, and American Conservative Fund, which engages in Republican primaries. Their groups have spent money in state legislative races where sports betting has yet to be legalized, such as Georgia and Texas, and states where lawmakers are considering raising taxes on the industry, such as Pennsylvania.

How can we expect lawmakers to address the sports betting issue adequately and fairly amid such economic pressure?

Even if lawmakers made sports betting illegal, an issue would remain: predictive markets. Predictive markets allow users to bet on the outcome of events such as sports games and have effectively become alternative sports betting platforms.

Sites such as Polymarket and Kalshi have been able to work around states where sports gambling is prohibited and don’t require state gambling licenses because they are regulated only by the federal government. As the sports betting platforms discussed, predictive markets are also spending heavily in this election cycle.

So far this year, Kalshi, Polymarket and the Coalition for Prediction Markets have spent $3 million at minimum on lobbying and campaign contributions on the state and federal levels. It is thus hard to trust those in power to hold these predictive markets accountable. CEO of Polymarket, Shayne Coplan, is also very close to Trump and his allies.

The influence of sports betting apps and predictive markets in this election cycle speaks to the larger issue of corporate influence in American elections. But unlike the influence of healthcare groups, sports betting companies are relatively new. Their effects cannot be easily known, but we can make some reasonable speculations.

Sports betting is now the third-largest corporate donor sector, behind crypto and technology. With that in mind, we can examine the effects these sectors have had on American politics and identify some possibilities.

We could see a growing alliance between those in power and the CEOs of major sports betting companies. Many tech and crypto CEOs, like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, have tried to maintain a cozy relationship with the White House to protect their interests.

Candidates may become more vocal about their opposition to these platforms. We have seen this with another rising concern, data centers, where many candidates espouse their opposition as this is a popular sentiment with voters. Americans have increasingly viewed sports betting as harmful for society, so candidates may use this eroding trust as fuel for their campaigns.

This could easily become an issue like healthcare, where the wants of the people differ vastly from those in power, and lobbying plays a major role. In the 2024 election cycle, health lobbying went up to more than $750 million. These lobbyists work to counter public pressure and dissatisfaction with the current healthcare system. A record high of 29 percent of Americans say the healthcare system is in crisis, and 47 percent see it as a major problem. We could see a similar parallel with sports betting, where Americans see it as a dire issue, yet it remains unaddressed because of the vast amounts of money spent on lobbying.

As mentioned, sports betting in the form we see today is relatively new, so the damage it can do to society is still in its early stages. Due to this uncertainty, more public awareness of such platforms and their influence in elections is a necessity. On the other hand, change can start in our own lives. It is important to know how to help someone struggling with gambling addiction. The first step is to recognize that a gambling addiction is just as real as a drug or alcohol one. While you cannot force someone to quit, you can encourage them to find help, support them as they do, and protect yourself.

It is important that we are aware of how much money these gambling corporations are putting into elections because, without awareness, they will only continue to grow in influence. Solving this lobbying problem is no easy task, but it starts with awareness and taking action in our own lives.

Sports betting may not be as obvious or as well known as some other malicious lobbying groups in our country, but it should be taken just as seriously.

Kayla Cloherty is a sophomore majoring in history. 

Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.