Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As we get set for Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, there will be a record number of Americans placing their bets on the big game. But those who deal with problem gamblers are seeing more calls for help.
According to a new American Gaming Association, 1 in 5 Americans are expected to bet on Super Bowl LVII, a 61 percent increase from the record set in 2022. Bettors plan to wager an estimated $16 billion on this year's championship game, more than double last year's estimate.
Cait DeBaun of the American Gaming Association says this is due in part to an increase in sports betting legalization. "We saw legal wagering up 60% year over year, and just in the last year alone, there's been four new markets, the Super Bowl in 2022. The other part is the Super Bowl is unique. It has a strong casual betting components," says DeBaun.
DeBaun says New York is a big reason for the increase. "The state launched mobile betting a few weeks before the Super Bowl last year, so we saw some of that come in with the betting in 2022. But of course, as the year has gone on, more New Yorkers have seen the fun of getting in on the action. And some of them have also been migrating over from the illegal unregulated marketplace. So part of the growth probably is coming from New York," says DeBaun.
A representative from the governor's office tells WBEN, "With a full year of futures wagers and expanded customer bases for licensed operators in place, it is safe to assume New York will see substantial wagering activity regarding this weekend's Super Bowl. Note last year's data as indicative of the market's potential for this weekend: The NFL brought in more than $1.3 billion over 10 regular season weeks (through 10/20/22) and all of the 2022 playoffs. The average number of transactions on Sundays since the start of the 2022 NFL season was 5.7 million." The state says New York State brought in over $900 million in tax revenue and license fees in its first calendar year of operation. Most of the betting comes from mobile sports wagering.
But with more gambling, more problem gamblers begin to emerge. Jeffrey Wierzbicki of the Western Problem Gambling Resource Center says he's seen an increase in calls for help by 35 percent in the past year. He says one of the things that's most concerning is how quickly people are developing a problem with sports betting, because of the accessibility of the online mobile sports betting.
Wierzbicki is also concerned with how it's advertised to younger bettors. "They're using terms like 'wager-tainment' and young people are being exposed to it. And it's almost normalizing it for the younger betters and younger people are more susceptible to the online activities in general," says Wierzbicki. He also says the advertising is bombarding youth to get them to gamble, and convincing them they're missing out.
Wierzbicki says he's had clients who have lost hundreds or thousands of dollars. "We've just had college students that have completely burned through their year worth of college savings in just a couple of months. So it's really the problem becomes if they can't afford to lose the money, they shouldn't be batting with it," says Wierzbicki. He also says many see the easy access as a chance to get our of debt or supplement their income.
