By Gene Beresin, Executive Director and Spenser Egnatz, Outreach Associate

Posted in: Parenting Concerns, Teenagers

Topics: Hot Topics

“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, and know when to run…” 

Kenny Rogers, The Gambler 

Online sports betting is skyrocketing. And the population at greatest risk for use, misuse, and possible future gambling addiction are Gen Z youth, ages 18-29. The 2026 March Madness Tournament is estimated to handle 3.3 – 4 billion dollars in wagering. While many young adults have been betting online for years, the ability to bet continuously and in the moment has escalated with the advent of many new sports betting apps.

The increase in online sports gambling is likely due to:

• Smartphone betting: with instance access anywhere, anytime 
• Micro-bets and live betting: betting on each play or possession 
• Integration with social media: influencers posting bets, sharing their“best picks”, and bragging about their winnings 
• Advertising during game: including celebrities promoting betting 
• Peer influence: many young people are encouraging others to jump in 

All this adds up to the promotion and pressure to join in the fun. But this fun can be dangerous. It may include risk factors that could lead to compulsive gambling. Some of these influences include:

• Continuous betting 
• Push notifications on smart phones indicating that you “almost won” (stimulating increased engagement in betting) 
• Impulses to chase losses 
• Apps with free bets and sign-up bonuses 
• Parlay betting: the ability to bet small stakes with a pool of others, adding up to potential big wins. However, the house usually wins, and odds are stacked against participants

Recent research has demonstrated that the explosion of online sports betting leads to gambling addiction. The rate of gambling addiction in sports gambling is twice as high as other forms of gambling. The same research indicates that young adults are significantly at risk, particularly men.

Gambling Disorder includes the following criteria if it leads to clinically significant impairment based on 4 or more of the following criteria in the past 12 months:

1. Needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement. 
2. Is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling.
3. Has made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling. 
4. Is often preoccupied with gambling (e.g., having persistent thoughts of reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble). 
5. Often gambles when feeling distressed (e.g., helpless, guilty, anxious, depressed). 
6. After losing money gambling, often returns another day to get even (“chasing” one’s losses). 
7. Lies to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling.
8. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling. 
9. Relies on others to provide money to relieve desperate financial situations caused by gambling.

What Can Be Done? 

There are some clear guidelines for preventing or at least containing online sports betting:

• Do not gamble if you are in a distressed emotional state 
• Beware of gambling if under the influence of substances 
• Use limit setting tools that are part of online gaming apps, such as 
• Deposit limits 
• Spending limits 
• Time limits 
• Cooling off or time-out checks 
• Turning off push notifications 
• Refrain from Parlay gambling 
• Use 3rd Party apps that help you control your online gambling.  

What Can Parents and Caregivers Do 

Since young adults are at greatest risk, parents and all caregivers can provide support in many ways:  

• Have ongoing and frequent conversations about gambling, including focusing on the financial risks and game design leading to addiction, rather than moral lectures 
• Ask about the experience of online betting. What is your experience? What do you find so compelling? What have you learned about it? What do you think are its dangers? And be sure to address these open-ended questions with curiosity, empathy and without judgement. We cannot help our young people if we do not understand the appeal of their use of digital media.  
• Encourage your young people that they should monitor their payment systems, and offer to help with this (be aware of using PayPal, Venmo, credit cards or crypto transactions) 
• Encourage watching sports for entertainment, rather than possible income 
• Enlist siblings, peers, mentors, trusted family friends and relatives to participate in the dialogue 
• If you have a friend or contact who can explain probability and odds, see if your adult child would talk with them to be more literate in gambling. 

Remember that there are national support resources for those who may be in need of help with problem gambling, including: the National Council on Problem Gambling; Gamblers Anonymous, or 1-800-GAMBLER.  

Online sports betting is very different than what Kenny Rogers is singing about. You can walk away or run from a gambling table but try and walk away or run from your smart phone! Few of us can do this anytime, no less than when we are caught up in a betting phrenzy.  

The problem of online betting is yet another side of digital media we all need to be aware of. This major frontier has not simply invaded our lives but has been moving so quickly that few of us can truly understand how to be media literate and take control of it before it takes control of us.  

Let’s add online betting to our understanding of the use and misuse of social media, apps, and the internet.