Now that the sports betting industry in the United States is more than seven years old, more time and resources are being devoted to understanding its impact on the larger population. The breadth of this research is wide, and the results are equal parts valuable, enlightening, and at times, troubling.
In the case of Gen Z sports bettors, “concerning” is the operative word when looking at the data. Multiple studies find that Gen Zers, who include anyone born in the late 1990s through the early 2010s, engage with sports betting at an alarming rate. This will not surprise some. But it will come as a semi-shock to those who spend time wagering legacy gambling operators. They seem more geared to older clientele. Just look at the tenor and tone of an online Everygame review. Twenty-somethings do not appear to be their core demographic.
And yet, the data doesn’t lie.
More Than One-Third of Gen Z Admits to Betting on Sports
A 2025 NBC News report revealed that 37 percent of Gen Z members have bet on sports in some form. Most of their interaction in this arena, the report says, comes using online sportsbooks. As Ryan M. Reeves of Man In The Mirror writes:
“A 2025 report reveals that searches for gambling addiction help have surged by 200 percent in states post-legalization, correlating directly with expanded access. Among Gen Z, 37 percent report engaging in sports betting, often starting as early as high school, with 20 percent of that demographic placing bets online.”
Gen Z’s preferred sports betting medium is hardly a surprise. They are the generation depicted as “always on their phones.” While some Millennials fall under this subset, Gen Zers do not include anyone who grew up at a time when social media was less ubiquitous, or lifestyles were not as driven by technology.
Nowadays, you can do everything from your phone—and, by extension, your home. Think about the media industry, which encompasses pro sports and sports betting, at large. They gear so much of their content and services toward people using mobile devices. From TikTok and Instagram to streaming-service applications, life is happening on the phone.
This is no less than true for sports betting. Experts estimate that over 95 percent of all legal bets placed in the United States are processed through a mobile operator. It is also estimated that sports betting operators spend billions of dollars each year on promotional marketing, much of it tailored for promoting their mobile applications.
It makes sense, then, that Gen Zers are frequently betting on sports. For sportsbooks, they are a perfect storm of favorable circumstances: always on their phone, and old enough, in many cases, to have some semblance of financial independence.
Studies Highlight the Adverse Effects of Sports Betting Among Gen Z
When many study the frequency with which people bet, they are so often focused on the bottom line for operators, and for state tax budgets.
More recently, though, studies are trying to illustrate how upticks in sports betting among the younger generation and people at large can lead to financial distress. As Joe Berkowitz of Fast Company writes:
“Intuit Credit Karma commissioned the study from data firm Qualtrics ahead of March Madness, to shed light on some of the collateral damage wrought by the booming sports betting industry. ‘Plenty of people bet on sports very manageably and responsibly,’ says Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Intuit Credit Karma. ‘But like any vice, it can be a slippery slope.’ The study’s findings show just how harmful sports betting has become since the 2018 SCOTUS decision in Murphy v NCAA made it legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of 1,000 respondents who engage in sports betting, or have a partner who does, admitted to being sports betting addicts. Almost the same number (22 percent) said that betting had caused financial distress for themselves and their families. And nearly half (48 percent) of all respondents claimed to have experienced mental health issues including depression as a result of their betting activity.”
Local governments are beginning to take notice of these trends. That will continue as more research comes out. Some studies even show there might be a causation effect between the legalization of sports betting and reported bankruptcies.
This is Not About Repealing Legal Sports Betting
Plenty of people are inclined to treat this as evidence that sports betting needs to go. The reality is, it’s not going anywhere. States are making too much money, and off-shore betting sites will allow Americans access to gambling operations no matter what.
Urgency to make the industry safer for consumers is nevertheless rising. Make no mistake, that’s a good thing. Especially if you are someone who doesn’t want sports betting to go anywhere.
Massachusetts has proposed a “Better Health Act” that would require sportsbooks to implement individual betting limits, and deliver thorough financial background checks on customers to help create them. Meanwhile, Ohio has proposed banning prop bets on individual players, in hopes of combating the rise of social media threats levied at college athletes. Other states have looked at substantially raising sportsbook taxes, and allocating more of that money to problem gambling prevention, treatment and education.
Quite obviously, though, more must be done to reel in sportsbook promotional processes. Some states (like Massachusetts) are already tackling this topic. But the oversaturation of marketing contributes to some of the biggest problems. Never mind Gen Z. Generation Alpha is apparently even more at risk. As Reeves explains, “studies show that by age 9, over half are exposed to gambling-like elements through apps and games, with daily gaming time jumping 65 percent since 2020.”
To what extent this issue can be realistically addressed is debatable. There is no magic panacea. Every industry has its downsides. Sports betting is no different.
From where we’re standing, though, investing more in sports betting education and promotional restrictions for companies seems like the most logical course of action. Arming younger generations with knowledge of the most pressing dangers while insulating them against exposure to them as long as possible should drive real change. All of us should fully expect states to make this more of a priority in the years, even decades, to come.
