Whether you find this article during the National Football League off-season, pre-season, regular season, or the midst of the playoffs, you have come to realize that you are no longer able to appreciate games as a pure fan anymore. You join the millions of other Americans who have had fandom compromised by the proliferation of sports betting. Fed up with the negative consequences that betting on the league has had on your life, you have come online in search of insight and help for what you consider to be an “NFL gambling addiction”. We’re here for you. Kindbridge has provided a playbook that will help you break the hold the NFL gambling addiction has over your life. Successful treatment may allow you to enjoy being a fan again (in time) without obsessing over moneylines, point spreads, parlays, and props. Kick off your road to recovery by reading ahead.
3 Powerful Plays to Break the Grip that Gambling on NFL Football Has Over Your Life (and learn to become a pure fan again)
Play 1: Get Assessed for Gambling Addiction
Lets cut to the chase. While other resources that you may come across in your search for help will go into a long monologue about how to bet on football responsibly, you’re not ready for that. Right now, you need support, or you would not have entered the specific phrase “NFL gambling addiction” into Google Search or ChatGBT (etc.).
Let’s first assess where you stand with respect to your relationship with betting on football. This is important for a few key reasons. For one, you may simply have been told by loved ones, friends, coworkers, or others that you have an addiction, when in reality you may not exhibit the signs of problematic gambling behavior. Wouldn’t you like to find out what is or isn’t true? Or, in the more likely scenario that your search for insight into NFL gambling addiction is in fact backed by problematic gambling behavior, it’s important to delineate the extent, which will help inform a forthcoming treatment strategy. And on that note, an assessment can help identify if there are any mental or behavioral health issues that are known to cooccur with problematic gambling behavior (anxiety, ADHD, OCD, etc.). If the assessment uncovers that there are, this too will inform a treatment strategy that will increase the odds of a more sustainable and timely recovery. Understanding this, we point you to the first move in the promised playbook, which is to take a quick 2-minute quiz for problematic gambling behavior. Click or tap the link below to initiate.
Play 2: Sign-Up for Gambling Coaching Program
If you took the above quiz and followed the steps after confirming that you may exhibit problematic gambling behavior, then you will already be on your journey with America’s leading problem gambling support provider. However, you may already recognize that you need help, and are ready for a stronger offensive strategy to break the hold NFL betting has on your life. This is where our Gambling Coaching Program comes in. This program has been designed to provide you with the essential tools, strategies, and resources to confront and manage the challenges posed by sports betting. Click or tap the link below to sign-up.
REGISTER FOR GAMBLING COACHING PROGRAM
If you’re not yet ready to commit to the 8-week program, at the bare minimum it’s important to test the waters of gambling addiction treatment. This single counseling session can be done by-phone or online via your preferred virtual meeting software (Zoom, et cetera).
Play 3: REMOVE TRIGGERS TO NFL GAMBLING
You’ve initiated the two most important plays in beating gambling addiction (above). However, you will be challenged as NFL season approaches or progresses (depending upon when you find this). Between TV and streaming platform viewing, social media scrolling, casual conversations with friends and loved ones (also football fans), and visits to local watering holes, you will be trigged to bet at every turn. You must remove triggers to NFL gambling from your direct line of vision and periphery as you enter into and undergo treatment. Follow these steps:
- Go beyond self-exclusion tools, and instead close all online sports betting accounts and delete the respective applications from your desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. Further, install software that blocks sports betting sites from all of your digital devices, such as GamBan.
- Avoid not just betting, but all elements that gamify football fandom. This means no fantasy football, squares, et cetera. Further, you may need to abstain from watching football for the time being. You should also avoid monitoring game updates as it may tempt you to make mental picks and predictions, and run calculations on “what you could have won” if you had not abstained from betting.
- Ask friends and loved ones to not discuss betting on football this season. You needn’t necessarily inform them that you think you have an addiction, but you can tell them you’re trying to take a break and prefer to not be tempted by conversations on the matter.
- Avoid sports bars and anywhere else that game viewership and betting on games go hand-in-hand.
- Avoid TV programs/channels that run sports betting advertising, and block/hide related ads on your online streaming and viewing platforms along with social networks.
For more insight, please read our guide to Stop Betting on the Super Bowl which can be applied to the entire NFL season.
CAN YOU BET ON NFL AGAIN, AFTER RECOVERY?
This is a very tough question that requires careful consideration and should not be decided upon without discussion with your problem gambling counselor, after you have undergone treatment. You will cross the bridge when the time comes, but for now you can read more about it via the link below.
CAN A RECOVERING GAMBLER EVER GAMBLE AGAIN?
CAN YOU WATCH THE NFL, AFTER RECOVERY?
During or after successful treatment, it is very possible that you will be able to return to being an NFL fan in its purest sense – following your favorite team/s while in attendance at games (if your city has a squad) and playing armchair quarterback at home or the local bar with buddies. But this too will take time, and should be done while in communication with your counselor. Read more about it via the link below.
CAN RECOVERING GAMBLING ADDICTS WATCH SPORTS?
Has sports betting ruined your relationship with NFL fandom? Let’s break the hold that gambling has on your life, beginning with a FREE assessment. Reach out via your preferred form of contact provided below.
Get Help for Sports Betting Addiction
CALL +1 (877) 426-4258
OR
Email help@kindbridge.com
