Young Soccer Athletes Especially Vulnerable to Gambling Problems: New Study

Gambling,

A new study confirms what many have been saying for years: Gambling is a serious threat to young people — and the problem seems to be getting worse.

Most states in the U.S. have legalized sports betting, and more than half of men ages 18 – 49 report having an active sportsbook account online. Arkansans wagered a record $86.5 million in March alone this year. But this type of gambling is having a corrupting influence on athletics in the U.S. and around the world.

Researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet studied 741 male junior elite soccer players from Sweden’s two highest national leagues.

The study found 32% of the players had gambled in the past year.

Among players 18 and older, that number jumped to more than 60%.

Nearly one in ten players showed signs of problem gambling, and even more alarming, more than one in five underage players reported gambling despite legal age restrictions.

The data is clear: Sports betting is corrupting sports and ruining lives. 

The NCAA has opened investigations into dozens of student-athletes for sports betting violations. Federal prosecutors have announced indictments in connection with an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme to fix college basketball games. Nearly half of Division I men’s basketball players have reported harassment from bettors on social media.

MLB players have been accused of rigging pitches to defraud sports betting platforms. The NFL and the NBA have also dealt with corruption and scandals tied to sports betting.

On the whole, most Americans do not believe sports betting has been good for society or good for sports.

Arkansas families need to understand that sports betting isn’t harmless entertainment — it’s predatory, and it’s growing.

As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise, gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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U.S. Senators Working to Protect Kids from Gambling Ads

Gambling,

The Wall Street Journal reports two U.S. Senators are working on a bipartisan effort to protect children from gambling ads.

Sports betting and other forms of gambling are now legal across most of the U.S., and more than half of men ages 18 – 49 report having an active sportsbook account online. Arkansans wagered a record $86.5 million in March alone this year. But evidence shows teens and young adults may be getting hooked on sports betting through predatory advertisements.

The proposed Gaming Advertisement to Minors Enforcement (GAME) Act by U.S. Sens. Katie Britt (R — Alabama) and Richard Blumenthal (D — Connecticut) would prohibit social media platforms and other websites from advertising sports betting to children and teens.

We have written in the past how some sportsbooks have actually produced ads that seem to promote compulsive gambling and other problem-gambling behavior.

For example, in 2024, FanDuel released one commercial that showed people so focused on sports betting that they ignored everyone else around them.

Another ad promoted taking advantage of every opportunity to gamble.

Last year, FanDuel aired commercials encouraging people to gamble on “surprising” hunches — including powerful hunches that strike between football plays.

More recent commercials advertise “playoff mode” with aggressive promotional offers like hundreds of dollars in “bonus bets.”

The ads may seem silly, but gamblers who ignore loved ones, wager nonstop, or place bets “on a hunch” quite possibly suffer from a gambling problem.

We have said before that placing reasonable restrictions on advertising is one thing Arkansas could do to address predatory gambling. It’s good to see congressional leaders taking this issue seriously as well.

Sports betting is corrupting sports and ruining lives. The NFL and sportsbooks have actually faced lawsuits over the harm from gambling addiction and in-game micro-bets.

As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for policymakers to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Concerns Over Addiction Grow as Gambling Becomes as Easy as Sending a Text

Gambling, ,

Concerns are growing nationwide about a new wave of gambling addiction from sports betting and online “prediction markets.”

Most states have legalized sports betting. Survey data shows more than half of men ages 18 – 49 have an active sportsbook account online.

Arkansans wagered a record $86.5 million in March alone this year, and “prediction markets” that operate outside the scope of state regulation have exploded in recent years.

But people are deeply concerned about the toll this type of gambling is taking on gamblers and their families.

In Ohio, Crain’s Cleveland Business writes that sports gambling is costing more than just money, saying:

“More than three years after Ohio launched legal sports betting, the returns are easy to measure. So are the costs. Billions of dollars have flowed through mobile apps, fueling tax revenue and industry growth. At the same time, calls to problem gambling hotlines have climbed, betting-related debt has increased and some lawmakers are now trying to put new limits on an industry that has already taken hold.”

Over at NBC Sports, Mike Florio recently wrote that sports leagues need to take responsibility for the “new wave of gambling addictions” foisted on fans.

“Those addictions are a direct result of the fact that it’s now as easy to make a bet as it is to send a text. The broader moral and ethical issues have taken a back seat to the rush for cash. For the leagues that have been finding ways to horn in on the treasure chest, it’s impossible to wash their hands of responsibility for the damage done by addiction.”

In Canada, a recent poll found 69% of people surveyed “believe problem gambling will increase as sports betting becomes more widely available and heavily advertised.”

Experts are also sounding the alarm over “prediction markets” that they say are not regulated under state gambling laws, but are still just as addictive as other forms of online gambling.

We have written over and over about how mobile gambling apps use addictive technology to hook people — especially young adults.

In 2024, the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council announced a 22% increase in calls for help with problem gambling — driven largely by sports betting.

By some counts, 20 year-old males account for approximately 40% of calls to gambling addiction hotlines, and upwards of 20 million men are in debt or have been in debt as a result of sports betting.

A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that states with legal mobile sports betting have seen credit delinquency rates spike — especially among borrowers under 40.

Bankruptcy attorneys across the country say online sports betting is driving a surge in personal bankruptcies — especially among young men in their 20s and 30s — and researchers at UCLA estimate that online sportsbooks are linked to an increase of roughly 30,000 more bankruptcies per year nationwide.

Sports betting is out of control. It’s corrupting sports and ruining lives.

Sports betting isn’t harmless entertainment — it’s predatory, and it’s growing. As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling.

We have identified a few examples of simple, sensible steps that Arkansas and other states could take to protect families from predatory sports betting.

Policymakers need to address this issue. Otherwise, gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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