Sports betting has seen a massive surge in popularity since a 2018 Supreme Court decision struck down a federal prohibition on it. Ever since, ads for gambling apps and online casinos like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM have become virtually inescapable across social media and TV.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are becoming concerned over a steep rise in gambling addiction and calls to gambling helplines.
The sheer scale of the trend in the United States is ominous. According to a recent survey of adult Americans by the Siena Research Institute (SRI) and St. Bonaventure University, more than half of men aged 18 to 49 said they had an active account with at least one online sports betting service — and an astonishing 46 percent of them said they’re actively betting on the platforms.
The poll was conducted in February, involving just over 3,000 respondents. Overall, 27 percent of all respondents said they were using these sites, a rise of five percent over the last year alone, while 22 percent said they were actively placing bets, up from just 17 percent in 2024.
Even more worryingly, 42 percent of active bettors said they felt like they were spending more than they should, suggesting a growing personal finance crisis affecting millions of Americans.
“The results show that online sports betting remains an active part of life for a significant portion of Americans,” SRI director Don Levy in a statement, noting a “steady rise in those who say they have an active account” since “we began asking respondents about online sports betting in 2024.”
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are supercharging the trend, allowing anybody to place bets on not just the outcomes of sports games, but an enormous range of other future events as well.
While the latest poll highlights just how much sports betting has grown, many Americans are also growing increasingly wary. A whopping 74 percent of respondents said that 18-year-olds being allowed to participate is a “very” or “somewhat” serious issue. 85 percent also took issue with alleged insider betting schemes in the NBA.
Despite the very real risks, the US still has no national gambling policy, making it an outlier compared to other countries. Instead, individual states are responsible for their own gambling commissions to set the rules. As of this year, 39 states have at least some form of legal sports betting.
Addiction researchers have since called for a more unified approach to fight gambling disorders, but given the heavy influence of corporate interests and the Trump administration’s extremely light on regulation approach, the situation could soon get worse.
“The sophistication and complexity of betting has become staggering,” said senator Richard Blumental (D-CT), who co-sponsored a bill that would impose federal standards on sports betting companies, in a statement last year. “And that’s why we need protections that will enable an individual to say no.”
More on gambling: Prediction Markets Are Sucking Huge Numbers of Young People Into Gambling
