Jemele Hill Calls Out The ‘Consequences’ Of Normalizing Sports Betting Culture

Jemele Hill speaks candidly about the risks of a normalized sports betting culture and its growing influence on younger fans.

Between nonstop ads across screens to branded stadiums and team jerseys, today’s sports landscape has made sports betting almost impossible to ignore. With wagering now woven into nearly every part of the fan experience, Jemele Hill is stepping into the conversation, raising concerns about what she views as the growing dangers of an increasingly normalized sports betting culture.

The veteran sports commentator dives deep into the matter in VICE TV’s Out of Bounds: The Sports Betting Boom, the third installment of the Out of Bounds series that examines the changing landscape of modern sports and sports betting culture. In the episode, Hill reflects on her own experiences with sports gambling and explores how its rapid rise has altered the way fans and players engage with professional sports.

“Once the Supreme Court made sports gambling available everywhere, I think we have seen a number of scandals, gambling scandals related to sports across different sports,” Hill told BLACK ENTERPRISE.

The Jemele Hill is Unbothered host compared the rapid growth of sports betting to the tobacco industry, noting how cigarettes once became deeply normalized through constant promotion across popular culture.

“I think we need to think very carefully about where and how this is being normalized,” Hill explained. “You know, tobacco cigarettes became cool because movie stars did it. Because, you know, people in movies smoked, because smoking seemed like something that was alluring and sexy and those kinds of things.”

And so I think we need to be very clear and very cognizant of how this is being marketed, especially to younger people, because I think that’s where the real danger lies, you know, young people being able to access sports gambling on their phone, you know, when they turn 18. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”

In recent years, several professional athletes across major sports leagues have been caught up in gambling-related scandals, underscoring the risks tied to the rapid expansion of sports betting.

From players betting on games to violations involving insider information and betting accounts, the growing number of incidents reflects how deeply betting has seeped into sports culture and how normalization may be blurring ethical lines for both players and fans alike, Hill says.

“I think we’re just going to have to get accustomed to hearing about players betting on themselves, betting on their sport, betting on other sports, and running into these situations that used to be considered to be something that was a cardinal sin in sports,” she explained.

“Gambling on the game, you know, compromising your professional integrity as it relates to sports gambling, you know, was something that destroyed a player’s career. And so, but I think now we’re in the age that gambling has become so normalized and so accepted that we’re going to be living in the consequences of it.”

In Out of Bounds, Hill and other sports insiders examine the point at which fandom turns into addiction through sports betting, and how gambling has seeped into the daily lives of both fans and players, as reflected in recent headlines.

Hill says the trend highlights a growing dehumanization of athletes themselves.

“It’s a common blind spot, I think most fans have, is that in their minds, the players aren’t real people to them. They are just entertainment vessels,” she explained. “And so because of that, I think they have, their default mode is to dehumanize the players. And, you know, they don’t understand that, yes, many of them lead great lives in the sense that they have money, they have adulation, they have fame, but often those things come at a price and a cost.”

As a prominent voice in sports media, Hill openly acknowledges her experiences with sports gambling but notes that she’s able to keep it in check.

Still, she worries about how today’s betting-saturated culture is shaping younger sports fans, who are growing up with gambling woven into nearly every part of the game.

“I’m not gonna be on a high horse and act like I’ve never gambled on sports. I do maybe once or twice a year, maybe,” Hill admitted. “But what you are seeing is that younger and younger sports fans are, because they have access to this so early, that I think, you know, a nation, there’s gonna be a generation of sports gambling addicts that pretty much have developed right under our nose.”

The author and sports journalist points to fan engagement platforms like Fantasy Football as clear examples of how betting culture has reshaped the way fans experience the NFL. What was once a Sunday spent simply enjoying matchups between teams has become an increasingly high-stakes pursuit, with fans focused on individual outcomes and potential payouts tied to their bets.

“Even though people look at this harmlessly, I mean, let’s be honest, fantasy football is really just gambling at the core of it,” Hill declared. “It may not be as intense as, say, prop betting, but you know, I did fantasy football for a while, and I was even the lead commissioner a couple of times, and I saw then how it changes how you watch the game because you become much less interested in like teams and more interested in individual players.”

“And you even run into uncomfortable situations where you’re rooting against your own team because you want to win your fantasy game.”

With sports betting heavily promoted in an era when younger college-level athletes can profit from their name, image, and likeness through NIL deals, Hill believes the moment calls for stronger oversight of sports gambling.

She is emphasizing the need for safeguards to protect both young fans and athletes navigating an increasingly betting-driven sports culture.

“I think we need to be conscious and not pretend that we are marketing something that is, you know, we’re not marketing something that’s gonna necessarily be positive over the course of time,” she said. “There are plenty of people, I get it, that gamble responsibly, but I think how appealing we’ve made this for young people is something that we really ought to put in check.”

Catch more of Jemele Hill’s take on the issue when Out of Bounds: The Sports Betting Boom premieres on VICE TV Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 9:00 PM ET.