During the 2026 Golden Globes ceremony on Jan. 11, viewers at home were bombarded with incessant, highly controversial banner ads, according to Futurism.
What's happening?
As the outlet noted, Americans watching this year's Golden Globes were doing so against the backdrop of alarming economic signals, including a sustained weak jobs market.
Several major industries endured volatility and uneven profits, but one sector that has been trending upward has been making worrisome gains: online gambling. From sports betting to "crypto casinos," the ill-regulated digital gambling industry appears to be booming.
Ads for Polymarket, a particularly contentious "prediction market," were constantly displayed to viewers at home throughout the awards ceremony.
As Futurism noted, Polymarket wagers go well beyond sports outcomes or roulette, allowing users to place bets on matters like whether the United States would "invade Venezuela."
During the Golden Globes, Semafor social media editor Josh Billinson (@jibillinson) tweeted about an inundation of Polymarket ads.
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"The Golden Globes Best Podcast odds presented by Polymarket" is a new low for this humiliating awards show pic.twitter.com/aGs0av9GfF
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) January 12, 2026
"'The Golden Globes Best Podcast odds presented by Polymarket' is a new low for this humiliating awards show," he wrote.
Why are excessive gambling ads concerning?
The rise of digital gambling has been attributed in large part to the ubiquity of smartphones and bustling app markets, which enable significant gray-market activity from overseas, along with pervasive advertising schemes and cultural inundation like the one seen at the Golden Globes. Such advertising can drive consumerism and lead to spending habits beyond what a person might ordinarily spend or need if left to their own devices.
Gambling's highly addictive nature — driven by maladaptive dopamine loops — was well documented before cellphones became commonplace, but the ease with which large sums can be wagered away has changed dramatically.
In 2023, the American Psychological Association warned that it had "never been easier to place a bet," a condition that has drastically increased since the advisory was published.
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No way 🙅 Moreover, the APA cited research showing that more than two-thirds of youths aged 12 to 18 admitted to dabbling in online gambling, and the organization cautioned that young people were at greater risk of developing a gambling addiction.
While online betting has emerged as a broad concern, Polymarket itself has sparked even greater concerns due to its unique functionality. In December, Vox reported that Polymarket and Kalshi, a similar platform, raked in $10 billion in November alone.
Polymarket and Kalshi enable users to "stake money on everything from the outcomes of elections and wars to the weather" in their region, creating what are known as "perverse incentives" in several ways.
By allowing users to bet on matters of policy, politics, and war, betting activity could, for starters, motivate, influence, or even coerce key players into a course of action.
WBUR examined the wider risks of prediction markets like Polymarket in October, noting that $3.6 billion had been staked on the 2024 U.S. general election.
The outlet said experts believed that prediction markets were outpacing regulators' ability to govern them, which could put users at even greater risk of negative outcomes.
What's being done about it?
Ultimately, as WBUR observed, online gambling has become a massive industry, growing faster than safety checks can be put in place.
States like Michigan have taken steps to sanction illegal gambling operations, and contacting lawmakers can help bring about oversight.
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