A Rant: Why I Hate State Lotteries (and the DC-Based Nonprofit on My Naughty List)

A Rant: Why I Hate State Lotteries (and the DC-Based Nonprofit on My Naughty List)

From The Nonprofit Insider Podcast by Swim Karim

March 11, 2026 · 22 min · Season 1 · Episode 73

About this episode

In this episode, Swim Karim expresses his strong opposition to state-run lotteries and discusses the implications of legalized gambling in America.

I hate the lottery. Let’s start there. The average American household spends $665 per year playing state-run lottery games. In fact, Americans spent $105.26 billion on lottery tickets last year alone, making the lottery the most popular form of gambling in the United States . In today’s episode, I talk about why I despise state-run lotteries, why states should stop running them altogether, and why governments should spend more time regulating—and taxing—private gambling enterprises instead of operating their own. Plus, I take aim at the broader reality of legalized gambling in America and explain why the National Council on Problem Gambling continues to deserve the criticism it receives. My reasonings are simple: When you are in bed, directly receiving money from the entities profiting from the gambling industry (i.e. the NFL, DraftKings, BetMGM, ESPN BET, Barstool Sportsbook), you are operating in a less-than-ideal fashion. Listen to the episode on Apple here: https://bit.ly/Ep73TheNonprofitInsiderPodcastApple Listen to the episode on Spotify here: https://bit.ly/Ep73TheNonprofitInsiderPodcastSpotify And be sure to subscribe to us however you take on media: YouTube…

People in this episode

Host: Swim Karim

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Council on Problem Gambling, NFL, DraftKings, BetMGM, ESPN BET, Barstool Sportsbook

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