Risky business: online gambling among youth on the rise


Logan Embacher, a prevention specialist for Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission, delivers a “Stacked Deck” presentation at a Fayette County high school. Stacked Deck is one of the programs offered by the drug and alcohol commission to address youth gambling.
It’s one of the most anticipated times of the year for sports fans: the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl.
And sports betting ads are everywhere.
Turn on the television, and you’re bound to see an ad – often featuring a celebrity popular with the younger generation – promoting the use of one of the many sportsbooks operating in the betting industry.
Gambling rates among teens and young adults are climbing, and experts say easy access to sports betting and other forms of online wagering has led to gambling problems among some of them.
A 2023 survey by the NCAA of 3,527 18- to 22-year-olds found that sports betting is widespread in that population. Fifty-eight percent said they had participated in at least one sports betting activity, with 4% of them betting daily. About 6% of those participating in sports betting reported losing more than $500 in a single day. And about 28% of students have bet using a mobile app or website.
Additionally, McGill University’s International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors reports between 60% and 80% of high school students gambled for money in 2023, and up to 6% are considered addicted to gambling.
“Obviously, we’re not seeing kids walking into casinos – there are policies to prevent that – but kids are accessing it other ways, including online betting through apps and websites and offshore betting,” said Josh Ercole, executive director of the Council of Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania. “And especially with sports betting, there are an endless number of wagers that can be placed. It’s gone from being a one-time bet, like will the Steelers beat the Ravens and cover the spread, to now, where every down, every pitch, every time a player has the ball or is shooting a basket is an opportunity to place a wager, and you can do it for virtually every collegiate or pro sport anywhere. The availability has increased at a meteoric level. And the more normalized it becomes, the more likely you’ll see kids become engaged.”
Online sports betting has become far more accessible since a 2018 Supreme Court decision that ruled the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was unconstitutional. So far, 39 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized online sports betting or some type of online gambling.
Sports betting is becoming widespread across college campuses in the U.S. – at least eight major universities have entered partnerships with sports-betting companies or sportsbooks – and experts worry that it can take a toll not only on students’ finances, but on their mental health as well.
Teens and young adults don’t necessarily have the tools to understand the risks and rewards of gambling in a healthy way, said Jody Bechtold, a social worker and globally recognized gambling addiction counselor who is CEO of The Better Institute in Mt. Lebanon.
“I can tell you, there are six clinicians in my practice and we are getting referrals constantly. We were inundated over winter break with parents reaching out about their college-age students,” said Bechtold. “We’re seeing a lot of freshmen having a terrible freshman year because they owe a bookie, and the bookies are seniors on campus. And the amounts they owe are staggering. It’s not unheard of to hear a freshman ask a parent for $10,000 to pay off the bookie. There is a whole other level of gambling going on.”
Bechtold devoted her career to gambling addiction after a young adult she counseled became addicted to gambling – spending a $700 paycheck on slot machines at a Pittsburgh deli – and ultimately took his life.
Gambling addiction has among the highest suicide rates of addiction, between 20 and 40%, she said.
Bechtold encourages parents to have a conversation with their children about gambling, and to help them understand the strategies used by gambling sites to lure people into betting more frequently and in larger amounts.
“Have the conversation with your kids about the dangers of problem gambling. Respect that it’s meant to be for people 21 and older, because the brain, that prefrontal cortex, hasn’t fully developed yet.”
Ercole noted that those who start gambling at younger ages are more likely to develop a gambling problem later on.
From fun activity to addiction
Rob Minnick, now 25, grew up near Philadelphia and started gambling on daily fantasy sports when he was 18.
But, he said, his sports betting morphed from a fun activity into a gambling addiction. While his friends would place a couple of bets on 76ers, Eagles or Phillies games, Minnick found himself spending six to eight hours a day on sports betting apps.
When Minnick went to college, he started gambling on an offshore gambling app, and an online bookie extended a line of credit to him.
He won’t divulge how much money he lost during the six years he gambled, but said he found himself in debt several times and had to work as many as 80 hours a week to pay off his gambling debts. The worst part, he said, was telling his parents he had lost large sums of money and asking them for money to cover his debts.
He sought help through a therapist and attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings, but hit rock bottom in 2022, after celebrating a big win by treating himself to a trip to Paris.
“Two hours after I landed, I was playing slots,” said Minnick. “And I thought, ‘That’s weird. You’re in Paris. Why are you doing that?'”
With the help of multiple resources and self-exclusion from casinos, Minnick was able to quit gambling. He hasn’t placed a bet since November 2022.
As part of his recovery journey, Minnick now educates and raises awareness about the dangers of problem gambling. He shares his experiences and insights on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and his blog, “Rob – One Day At A Time” (ROBODAAT).
“I don’t want to see people make the same mistakes I made,” said Minnick. “The message isn’t ‘don’t gamble.’ Gambling isn’t evil. But if you can’t understand why you’re doing it anymore, it’s gotten to a dangerous point.”
And sports betting companies “nudge” students, Bechtold noted. Once they sign up for an app, they start getting push notifications and promotions where the company gives them an amount of money up front for them to gamble “for free,” as a way to keep people engaged in sports betting.
“Operators are pushing free play and incentives to keep you hooked. And once people have lost money on sports betting, they turn to online casino slots to get their money back. So it starts with sports betting and goes to online casino games where they try to get back what they lost,” said Bechtold.
There’s also a correlation between video gaming and gambling. Young people who play video games often win a loot box or coins, making it a perfect segue to other forms of gambling.
Ercole said over the past few years, he has seen more calls coming to the helpline from the 25- to- 34-year-old demographic. The largest number of calls in November 2024 – 25% – came from the 25- to- 34-year-old age group, followed by the 35- to- 44-year-old group with 20% of calls.
“We’ve seen a shift since 2018 in the demographic we’re receiving calls from, with the 18 to 24 range expanding. We are finding it’s related to sports betting,” he said.
Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission has had a full-time problem gambling prevention specialist on staff since 2021. It offers gambling-related programs to school districts in the county, including “Stacked Deck,” a program aimed at students in grades nine through 12, and “Kids Don’t Gamble … Wanna Bet?” which is geared toward late elementary to middle school students.
“We did a needs assessment in 2016, and we did identify underage gambling as an issue,” said Lee Winterhalter, prevention supervisor for the county’s Drug and Alcohol Commission. “There is a lot of education that needs to be done in regard to gambling, which is an issue throughout the commonwealth and across the country.”
According to the results of the 2023 Pennsylvania Youth Survey, there is “clear evidence that underage youth actively participate in gambling.”
Bechtold and Ercole said it’s important for parents to have open, honest conversations with their children about the risks and consequences of gambling, particularly online gambling.
They encourage parents to start the conversation early, before kids are exposed to online platforms, and to establish guidelines regarding online activities and monitor online activity and intervene if they notice signs of excessive gambling.