5 Worrying Data Points About Sports Gambling
Bubba
06 Dec
The legalization of sports betting in some U.S. states in 2018 led to an explosion of gambling — and problems came with it. (The Economist)
The data:
In states with legal online betting, 10% of bettors spent at least 10% of their income on gambling, with low-income individuals being the most affected, according to a 2024 study by Southern Methodist University, the University of Maryland and UC San Diego.
Spending just 1% of income on gambling correlates with poor health and financial outcomes, prior research has shown.
A study by UCLA and USC published in 2024 found that in states with legalized online betting, credit scores dropped by almost 1%, bankruptcy rates increased by 28%, and debts sent to collections rose by 8%.
Fewer than 5% of bettors withdrew more than they deposited, collectively earning over $100 million, while the top 3% of bettors accounted for nearly 50% of net revenue for sportsbooks, according to an SMU study of 700,000 online gamblers.
States with online casino gaming saw the largest increases in irresponsible gambling and calls to gambling help lines, according to the same SMU study.
The anecdotes: According to a report in The Athletic, since 2020, Gamblers Anonymous has seen a dramatic shift, with men in their 40s—once the youngest attendees—now becoming the most common age group at meetings, largely due to the rise of sports gambling.
A Gamblers Anonymous spokesperson:
Today, we are opening meetings all over, specifically geared for males between 20 and 40, and the other day I was in a meeting with a 17-year-old. And the week before, somebody was in a meeting with a 14-year-old. We are tracing this all back to the legalization of all this, and the ability to gamble with your phone in your hand.