A new study reveals that more Americans are seeking help for gambling addiction alongside the rise in legal sports betting. Thirty-nine states now allow betting on sports games, and four more states are considering legalization this year.
The study, led by the University of California San Diego and published in the peer-reviewed JAMA Internal Medicine, shows a significant increase in sports betting and gambling addiction help-seeking since the legalization of sports betting in most American states following the Murphy v. NCAA Supreme Court decision in 2018.
"When the Supreme Court legalized sportsbooks... public health experts paid little attention," John Ayers, lead author and vice chief of innovation at UC San Diego School of Medicine, said in a statement. "Now, sportsbooks have expanded from a single state to 38 states, with hundreds of billions of wagers, mostly online, coinciding with record-breaking demand for help with gambling addiction as millions seek help."
Since the landmark Supreme Court decision in 2018, which paved the way for states to legalize sports betting, the industry has experienced unprecedented growth. According to the study, the total amount wagered on sports has skyrocketed from $4.9 billion in 2017 to $121.1 billion in 2023, with online betting accounting for 94% of those wagers.
"What was once a taboo activity, confined to the fringes of society, has been completely normalized," said Matthew Allen, a third-year medical student. "From relentless advertising to social media feeds and in-game commentary, sportsbooks are now everywhere."
The study draws a direct correlation between the rise in sports betting and a significant uptick in people seeking help for gambling addiction. Between 2016 and 2024, internet searches for gambling addiction-related terms, such as "am I addicted to gambling?," increased by 23% nationwide.
States that legalized sports betting saw even higher spikes in searches following the opening of sportsbooks. Illinois (35%), Massachusetts (47%), Michigan (37%), New Jersey (34%), New York (37%), Ohio (67%), Pennsylvania (50%) and Virginia (30%) all experienced significant increases in gambling addiction-related searches following the opening of any sportsbooks in their state, according to the study.
"The significantly higher search volumes observed in all eight states make it virtually impossible that our findings occurred by chance," said Atharva Yeola, a student researcher in the UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute. "Statistically speaking, the probability of these results happening randomly is less than one in 25.6 billion."
While traditional brick-and-mortar sportsbooks have contributed to the rise in gambling addiction, the study found that online sportsbooks have had a far more significant impact. In Pennsylvania, for example, the introduction of retail sportsbooks led to a 33% increase in gambling addiction-related searches. However, when online sportsbooks became available, searches surged by 61%.
"This pattern highlights the amplified risks associated with the accessibility and convenience of online sports betting," added Adam Poliak, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science at Bryn Mawr College.
The research team recommended measures such as increased funding for gambling addiction services, enhanced advertising regulations and stronger safeguards for online sportsbooks to address the public health consequences of the expanding sports betting industry.