Patrick Mahomes' take on athletes gambling won't change a thing

Sports betting is quickly becoming a toxic epidemic across the world, not just the United States. Sportsbooks are engrained with leagues and television networks, bombarding viewers and fans with adverts to wager on anything and everything. It's become so popular, the industry made $51.14 billion in revenue this year (January through August), an 8.9 percent increase from last year, according to a report from the American Gaming Association published Oct. 17.

Athlete gambling appears to only involve a small percentage of players, but that's just from the instances that become public because of impropriety. It's likely there's a larger percentage who actually participate and we just don't know it yet. High profile athletes like Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes addressed the state of gambling in sports this week.

"I just stay away from it. I don't want to put myself in that position," he told reporters Thursday. "Your life is so great, why mess with it?"

With the ease of access through technology, users can gamble from their phones just about anywhere. That's now tempted athletes to participate in gambling, giving birth to controversies that somewhat rival the infamous Chicago Black Sox incident. Just look at Emmanuel Clase's situation. But Mahomes' warning and words, while not wrong, might still be too little, too late.

Patrick Mahomes' warning on sports gambling is good hearted but unfortunately ineffective

Mahomes continued to describe his concern with how sports gambling is influencing the attitudes of fans, specifically making them more aggressive when attending or watching their favorite teams.

"I think more than anything for me, it gets weird sometimes when you've got fans talking about [wagers] just because you're trying to go out there and live your life and play the game, and sometimes they get really attached - even more than a regular fan because there's money on the line," he explained. "From me to them, I'd just say, 'Don't do anything you can't recuperate or live without. It's a crazy world we live in today, seeing all this stuff happen."

Mahomes has the right mindset and everything he said is completely valid. The problem is, nobody's going to listen to him. Despite his celebrity status and his influence, fans aren't going to heed his warning because there are just so many easy opportunities to try and make money.

Additionally, the NFL and other leagues will not cut ties with sportsbooks and gambling-adjacent companies because of the massive influx of cash that has been injected into the industries. Technology and betting sponsorships helped the league make over $1.8 billion in 2021. That number is surely higher nowadays.

Until a scandal bigger than the Black Sox comes around, nobody is going to take things seriously. We've already seen multiple NFL players suspended for gambling themselves. It's going to take a more drastic approach from players who are opposed to gambling for the winds to start shifting.

It's very unclear what that will need to look like, but mere statements like Mahomes' are going to simply fall on deaf ears when all businesses can hear is the sound of cash registers on repeat.