“Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” – Proverbs 13:11
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Well, unsurprisingly, it happened again. The biggest sporting event of the year in the United States, the Super Bowl, set a new gambling record.
The New England Patriots lost the big game to the Seattle Seahawks with a final score of 29 – 13. However, far more was lost in Super Bowl LX than just a game. With over a billion dollars gambled on the game, there is no doubt that many Americans completely blew their hard-earned money away as they placed bets on anything and everything associated with the game.
According to the American Gaming Association, it is estimated that Americans gambled a staggering $1.76 billion on the Super Bowl, which is a significant uptick from last year, which was $1.39 billion. That is nearly 400 million more dollars gambled on this year’s Super Bowl.
To be blunt, this is a full-blown emergency in our nation. Americans have a serious gambling problem that must be confronted because it wreaks havoc on families across our entire nation. Sadly, sports betting has been so integrated into sports that it is, for many, just a part of the game. Sports betting is much more sinister than just being a part of sports.
That’s why a recent bill filed in the Kentucky General Assembly, House Bill 582 sponsored by Representative David Hale, is such an important piece of legislation. If passed, it would raise the age for sports gambling from 18 to 21 in Kentucky. It would also prohibit sports gambling service providers from offering proposition bets, or prop bets, which fuel much of this gambling harm and addiction. While the bill doesn’t fully abolish sports gambling, it at least provides some necessary protections.
All gambling, including sports betting, causes intense harm to our society as it leads to an increase in addiction problems, brings corruption, leads to massive social costs that harm families, and promotes deceitfulness in sports. Kentucky, unfortunately, followed the disastrous mistake of many states in expanding government-sponsored predatory sports gambling in 2023, and it is beyond time to take steps legislatively to restrict the predatory industry and protect Kentuckians.
For our “Let Us Pray” devotionals during the 2026 KY General Assembly, we will be taking time during the legislative session to encourage you to pray, by name, for our elected leaders (see below). Let us commit to praying regularly for our Kentucky governmental leaders to act in ways that bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ and are a blessing to our Commonwealth.
LET US PRAY…
Father, help our nation to see and understand the dangers associated with sports betting and turn away from it. Lord, empower our Kentucky Legislature to pass measures that will restrict the predatory gambling industry. Father, help Your people to realize that gambling is an unwise use of the resources that You have blessed us with. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Join us in praying for our elected leaders throughout the 2026 Legislative Session!
KY Legislators
Sen. Craig Richardson
Sen. Brandon Smith
Rep. Chris Lewis
Rep. Derek Lewis
Rep. Scott Lewis
Rep. Matt Lockett