A recent study from Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) indicates that the growth of online gambling, particularly sports betting, in recent years has intensified concerning trends in specific demographics, particularly among young men.
The report from the New Jersey college revealed that men aged 18 to 30 surveyed reported gambling issues at over three times the national average — 10% versus 3%. According to FDU, the primary contributors to these issues are sports betting and online slot machines.
"Gambling is generally marketed as entertainment, and for most gamblers it’s just that,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson, and the executive director of the survey. “But there’s always some chance of gambling turning into problem behaviors, and online gambling is proving to be much more dangerous than other kinds.”
It has been over six years since the Supreme Court's decision in 2018 regarding the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). During that period, 38 states along with Washington, DC legalized various types of sports betting, both online and in-person, while six more permitted internet casinos. iGaming is predicted to expand significantly in the coming years as additional states look for new revenue streams.
Men Are More Vulnerable to Gambling Issues than Women
Although there are slight differences between the percentages of men and women who purchase lottery tickets and scratchers and frequent physical casinos, the gap widens significantly with online betting.
Despite indications that more women are entering sports betting, only 6% of women surveyed by FDU placed sports bets in the past year, while the figure for men stands at 15%. Additional points emphasize the susceptibility of young males to harmful betting habits. Only 10% of respondents surveyed by FDU reported placing sports bets in the last year, but that percentage increased to 26% for men under 30.
“Sports betting has been marketed heavily to the young men who are the biggest consumers of sports,” added Cassino. “When every league is partnered with a betting site, people who like sports are going to start gambling on it.”
Furthermore, the FDU survey found that 24% of men reported having at least one type of betting issue, with that figure rising to 45% for those under 30 and 38% for men aged 31 to 44.
FDU Claims Online Betting Creates Issues
The FDU research isn't the first to emphasize alarming betting trends among young males. A study commissioned by the NCAA in 2023 revealed that 17% of college students, primarily male, reported losing at least $100 in a single day on sports betting, while an additional 6% claimed to have lost between $500 and $1,000 in one day.
FDU states that connections exist between adverse gambling behavior and the rise of online access, emphasizing that bettors who gamble online are significantly more prone to cultivating negative habits compared to those who only participate in the lottery.
“For instance, only about 1/3rd (34 percent) of voters who say that they play the lottery report any problem gambling behaviors, a figure that rises to about 40 percent of those who play scratch-offs,” concluded the university. “But online gambling is much more linked to problem behaviors: 68 percent of voters who say that they bet on sports online report at least one problem gambling behavior, and a majority (53 percent) have two or more. Eighty-one percent of voters who play online slots have at least one problem behavior, with 2/3rds having two or more; these figures are much higher than for similar games played in person.”