Latin American news organizations have enthusiastically covered the industry's rapid growth. Much less attention has gone to its potential consequences for mental and public health.
Perhaps the only sure bet at this year’s Men’s World Cup is that online sportsbooks will win.
One estimate projects that more than $50 billion will be wagered worldwide during the tournament. Across Latin America, many news outlets have joined the boom, reporting on sponsorship deals, betting odds and predictions with an enthusiasm typically reserved for the matches themselves.
In Brazil, Folha de S.Paulo reported it as: “The World Cup of betting is about to begin.” In Mexico, El Financiero broke down the odds for the national team's matches. In Argentina, La Nación ranked the tournament favorites based on sportsbook odds.
What these and many other stories rarely examine is the business behind the business: an industry whose rapid expansion is linked to significant risks of gambling addiction and growing public health concerns.
“I think the media have done very little to talk about the risks associated with sports betting,” Ronny Suárez, a Colombian journalist who specializes in public health, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). “Any coverage of sports betting has to take into account the public health issue posed by gambling addiction.”
The World Cup — and betting — draw massive audiences, inspiring creative approaches from news organizations.
Colombian business newspaper La República developed an AI model to cover the tournament in an innovative way, Tatiana Arango, the outlet’s digital managing editor, told LJR. The model generates predictions for every World Cup match, she said.
The articles, published as part of the special series “The Economics of the World Cup,” give projected scores, likely goal scorers and even the expected number of yellow cards and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) interventions in each match. Although the stories do not encourage betting and do not appear to be sponsored by any gambling platform, the outlet promotes them on X with messages such as, “Thinking about betting on the Germany-Paraguay match?” Separate stories also publish odds for individual matches.
El Tiempo, another Colombian newspaper, has a betting desk that, according to its website, is staffed by “a team of highly qualified professionals specializing in analysis and betting strategies.” It adds that the team’s “decades of experience in sports journalism and media provide reliable and up-to-date information.”
One of the desk’s most recent stories is an explainer titled, “World Cup 2026 betting: Everything you need to know and the latest odds.” The article includes “exclusive recommendations for your World Cup bets,” but makes no mention of potential risks such as gambling addiction.
For Arango, the information produced by news organizations provides readers with the tools they need to make their own decisions. In that sense, she said, journalists serve as “stenographers,” documenting reality while allowing audiences to draw their own conclusions.
“Every day there are more platforms that combine news with prediction markets such as Polymarket, which goes beyond the intent of journalism,” Arango said. “News organizations simply provide information. Consumers decide how they want to use it.”
LJR also asked El Tiempo for comment about internal discussions surrounding the publication of these stories. The newspaper had not responded by the time this article was published.
These stories rarely include information or warnings about public health risks. When they address issues beyond betting itself, they tend to focus on domestic regulations — specifically, whether gambling platforms operate legally in the country.
The World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization have warned about the growth of online betting and its harmful effects on mental health, personal finances and social relationships.
Data from the two organizations show that 2% of the population in the Americas has a gambling disorder. That amounts to nearly 70 million people.
“Online betting is being studied as a new behavioral addiction,” Jeffrey González Giraldo, a Colombian psychiatrist specializing in addiction and public health, told LJR. “More and more studies are emerging, and the evidence increasingly shows that it clearly follows an addictive pattern.”
Although gambling disorder — the compulsive urge to gamble — was identified as a psychological disorder more than four decades ago, online betting differs because of technology: There are no physical or time restrictions. As a result, these platforms are much easier to access, González said.
González said he is seeing a growing number of cases of online gambling addiction in his own practice and among his colleagues.
“And this is important: It is closely associated with mental health disorders,” he said. “These are people with depression, people at high risk of suicide, and many also have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.”
Those disorders should be treated alongside the addiction because it remains unclear whether gambling addiction causes them or whether people with those conditions are more likely to become addicted, he said.
Like Suárez, González believes that the minimum standard for journalism involving betting or predictive models should be to include a warning about compulsive gambling.
“That’s the bare minimum. But even that warning doesn’t exist,” González said. “I do think journalists should take a position by saying, ‘Look, I’m giving you these predictions, but use them responsibly. Don’t use them for betting. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will come true.’ People may also take that information as fact, only to end up making bad decisions.”
In Colombia, some news outlets have highlighted the economic benefits of sports betting.
In a report by business streaming service Ditu Negocios on the positive effects of betting, Evert Montero, president of Fecoljuegos — the trade association representing Colombia’s gambling industry — said more than 122 million bets are expected to be placed this year. That would amount to 5.3 trillion Colombian pesos wagered, he said, not profits.
In 2024, Colombia’s economic authorities said the country’s gross domestic product was partly boosted by online betting. According to 2025 estimates, the industry accounts for 0.18% of Colombia’s GDP. A portion of the revenue from sports betting and other forms of gambling also goes to the country’s health sector. Colombia’s National Health Superintendency even promotes legal betting as “a sponsor of health.”
“Obviously, that affects regulation,” González said. “No one wants to regulate such a profitable business.”
Meanwhile, Colombia’s national soccer team and domestic league are sponsored by BetPlay, and players appear in advertisements promoting the platform. In Mexico, the national team is also sponsored by a similar betting company, Caliente.mx. In Argentina, national team goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez appears in betting advertisements.
There have been some efforts to address the issue. In Mexico, the National Autonomous University of Mexico issued a warning about sports betting during the World Cup. In Argentina, fact-checking organization Chequeado has been monitoring betting regulations and their relationship with sports.
In Brazil, the Justice Ministry recently announced an investigation into CazéTV over betting advertisements broadcast during World Cup matches. Authorities said the ads may violate Brazilian regulations by constituting abusive advertising. CazéTV, the streaming platform that has become a market leader, said it would revise its advertising practices and adopt a “more conservative” approach.
Suárez said it’s even more troubling when journalists themselves become spokespersons for betting companies or accept sponsorships without disclosing them.
“Journalists always have a responsibility to warn people about the risks,” Suárez said.
This article was translated with AI assistance and reviewed by Jorge Valencia.
