In the United States, gambling regulations have been loosening considerably over the past several years. Many states have legalized sports betting either at physical locations or through mobile apps. With the legalizations have come an influx of marketing efforts by all the large gambling companies. These marketing efforts raise serious ethical and legal questions, as groups of vulnerable people such as minors are being frequently exposed to sports betting and other online gaming.

The Oasis app is a self-appraisal tool for potential or current problem gamblers to take control of their habits by providing periodic check-in notifications during a gambling session and allowing users to see their progress over time. Oasis is backed by substantial background research surrounding addiction intervention methods, especially in the field of self-appraisal messaging, and applies this messaging in a familiar mobile notification form that can effectively change user’s behavior. User feedback was collected and used to improve the app, and the results show a promising tool that could help those who need it in the future.

This thesis discusses the implications of sports gambling from a perspective of addiction and promotions offered by sportsbooks. It discusses the background behind the recent legalization of sports gambling in the U.S., the potential result of gambling addiction, the different types of promotions commonly offered by sportsbooks, how these promotions relate to psychological phenomena related to gambling addiction, and how an ideal bettor could use these promotions to their advantage in order to best avoid addiction and losing excessive money. The data on the promotions used for analysis was collected primarily from DraftKings and manipulated in order to find expected returns, implied probabilities, and other relevant information. There is a discussion of how an ideal bettor could utilize the promotions commonly offered to consumers in order to make money on new platforms and theoretically avoid losing as much money by continuously betting in a strategic way.

The Winner's Circle aims to provide a digital platform for sports fans and betting addicts, in hopes to help centralize various forms of social communication between family, close friends, and strangers alike. As the legalization of sports related gambling activities become more widespread throughout the United States as well as the rest of the world, our platform has to potential to connect millions of like-minded, adrenaline-seeking fans across the globe.

Anthony Comstock was a US postal inspector and politician who advocated for the suppression of obscenity and vice throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Comstock considered any sexually explicit material like pornography and literature related to birth control and abortion as obscene. In 1873, Comstock lobbied US Congress to pass an anti-obscenity law titled An Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use, also called the Comstock Act. The law penalized individuals for sending material classified as obscene through the US postal services, which Comstock, as a special agent of the United States Post Office, could enforce. Comstock’s role in passing and enforcing the Comstock Act influenced the social and political restriction of birth control, hindering women’s access to contraceptives.

I conduct a thorough ethical analysis of the legalization of sports gambling and make suggestions as to how the statutes surrounding the act need revision in order to promote the most ethical form of mobile sports gambling, based upon concerns of addiction, Native American revenue streams, and the metaphysics of sport and integrity of the game.