Amid a vast expansion in unregulated “prediction market” and sports betting platforms that has sent gambling addictions soaring in recent years, Tuesday’s midterms saw voters reject ballot measures that would have expanded gambling in three states.

In Nebraska, a measure that would have legalized online sports betting via the state’s licensed racetrack casinos failed 54% to 45%, with a companion measure amending the state’s constitution to allow the change also lost by an almost identical margin. Notably, the initiatives were defeated despite the aggressive funding of the committee behind them, with DraftKings and FanDuel, the two largest online sports betting platforms, contributing $20.8 million of the $22.5 million total.

Three counties in Indiana also turned aside a voter referendum that would have allowed a casino to acquire a new license to operate in the northeast part of the state. DeKalb, Allen, and Steuben counties rejected the measure 64.6%, 59.6%, and 58.7%, respectively. While supporters argued that the initiative would generate millions in state tax revenue, opponents cited likely increases in gambling addiction, bankruptcies, and crime.

In addition, a ballot measure that would have expanded gambling failed in Virginia, where voters in Amherst County and the town of Pulaski turned aside an initiative that would have opened two new satellite casino facilities in both communities.

The failed measures provided a pause in momentum to the gambling industry, which is growing by leaps and bounds as prediction market and sports betting online platforms continue to see unprecedented growth. But with the growth has come increased scrutiny, as public figures like former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne and Senator Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) added their names to those in opposition to the Nebraska referendum. Osborne led a letter along with 45 other current and former athletes and coaches, contending that the measure would “undermine the integrity of college athletics by bringing unrestricted online sports gambling and relentless advertising for online sports betting to Nebraska.”

The letter further pointed out that “game manipulation, bribery, extortion, and threats against athletes, officials, and staff are dangers to the sports world. In one case highlighted by the FBI, a bettor sent threatening messages to college and professional athletes and their families when the athletes’ performances did not align with his wagers. Those messages included racial slurs and graphic threats to kill or harm the athletes and their loved ones. It also highlighted the FBI’s warning that “criminal actors attempt to manipulate games by exploiting athletes facing financial difficulties, substance abuse, or gambling problems.”

Yet criminal activity is far from the only problem that an online sports is adding to, experts say. A study released last year highlighted the magnitude of a single U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2018, which legalized sports betting nationwide and unleashed unlimited online betting apps like DraftKings and FanDuel, along with prediction market apps like Kalshi and Polymarket. After the SCOTUS decision, “The number of states with operational sportsbooks grew from 1 in 2017 to 38 in 2024,” and “total sports wagers skyrocketed from $4.9 billion in 2017 to $121.1 billion in 2023, with 94% of wagers during 2023 placed online.”

This has in turn led to an unprecedented surge in gambling addiction. As the study pointed out, online searches for help with gambling addiction rose 23% nationally from 2018 to 2024, equating to 7.3 million searches.

Experts like Jeanne Seaver, who serves as founder and president of Moms Against Gambling, say that the rejected ballot measures in three states signify that the public is catching on to the disastrous impact that gambling has on society.

“I think that people are basically waking up finally,” she observed during “Washington Watch” Friday. “We’ve been working hard here, specifically in Georgia, for over nine years to stop them from legalized gambling … and our whole goal has been [to] educate, educate, educate, because parents and grandparents are shocked that Georgia has been pushing it. … [T]hey’re surprised that we have like 84 lobbyists at our capital each year. … [T]here’s no amount of revenue that justifies the human tragedy that comes with statewide sponsored gambling.”

Seaver continued, “I get calls from mothers that [are] begging for help. One in particular recently … told me that her best friend’s son went down in the basement at his home and killed himself with a gun because of his debt in sports betting. Suicide is climbing all over this nation. … The gambling industry right now is even targeting our kids on their video games and iPhones, encouraging them to go and play the slot machines to get free stuff.”

Seaver went on to point out that newly elected Democratic lawmakers are poised to continue pushing for the expansion of sports betting, so it will continue to be up to citizens to turn down pro-gambling ballot initiatives.

“Our governor-elect was actually flying around the state during her campaign funded on a corporate jet by the casino owners,” she noted. “So there will be a huge push in January to legalize all gambling in our state. … And the thing that’s so sad about is that it preys on the poor. … I know South Carolina, their new governor-elect, is supportive of gambling. … [T]here’ll be other governors that will definitely be pushing this. … [H]ow they sell it is, ‘It’s for the kids. … [I]t’s going to fully fund pre-K all over the state.’ So they use the kids.”