With March Madness, the growth of online betting draws more concern
More than a quarter of Americans bet online every day, according to new data from the American Psychiatric Association. The amount wagered on sports has soared in recent years.
College basketball fans crave the arrival of March Madness, and as the first round kicks off Thursday, millions will be watching.
Petros Levounis, MD, former president of the American Psychiatric Association, says he's worried about the number of people gambling online on a daily basis.
And millions will be gambling on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Sports betting has surged in popularity in recent years.
The American Psychiatric Association has released new data that reveal how much gambling online has become a staple of daily life for tens of millions.
More than a quarter of Americans (28%) say they gamble online every day. Nine percent of adults say they spend four hours each day betting online.
Petros Levounis, MD, former president of the American Psychiatric Association and a professor of psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, says he’s worried about the growing number of people who are betting online and doing it every day.
“I'm certainly concerned about it,” Levounis tells Chief Healthcare Executive®. “The financial devastation that can very well happen with online gambling is of particular concern.”
The NCAA college basketball tournament this year will see more wagering than any tourney yet, writes Ben Fawkes, a senior sports betting analyst for Yahoo Sports. The American Gaming Association projects that Americans will legally gamble $3.1 billion on the NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments this year, up from $2.7 billion in 2024.
It’s virtually impossible to watch a broadcast of any sporting event without seeing a slew of commercials for online betting sites, with some featuring household names such as Peyton Manning and Jamie Foxx.
More people are searching online to see if they have a gambling problem, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine in February. The number of searches for gambling addiction rose 23% from 2018 to 2023, researchers found. That doesn’t compare to the surge in sports betting, rising from $4.9 billion in 2017 to $121.1 billion during 2023. In 2023, 94% of sports bets were placed online, the study notes.
The study’s authors wrote that their findings “highlight the need to address the health implications of sportsbooks, including recognition and treatment of gambling problems and their broader societal implications.”
A Supreme Court ruling in 2018 enabled states nationwide to allow betting on sports, and that decision has changed the game. Across the nation, 38 states and Washington, D.C. now allow sports betting.
The ease and temptation of going online and betting for hours is enticing, and potentially problematic, Levounis says. Those gambling online are easily wooed to stay longer and place more bets, he says.
“The algorithms behind online gambling can be tweaked to make it particularly addictive,” Levounis says.
There’s a gender gap with online gambling, as more men are likely to gamble online than women. More than a third of men (36%) are betting online daily, compared to 20% of women.
While women are less likely to be betting online, it appears that those women who are gambling online are more likely than men to develop a problem, Levounis says.
“The gender profile of online gambling, more specifically, seems to mirror what we see with alcohol use disorder and other addictions,” he says. “More men drink alcohol than women, but once women get into problems with alcohol, they tend to progress to the more severe form of alcohol use disorder faster than men.”
Those who are betting online every day are often starting at a young age. More than a third (35%) of those who say they’re gambling online on a daily basis began between the ages of 18 and 25.
People regularly gambling more money than initially intended could be a sign of a problem, Levounis says.
Another sign of trouble is “lying to people important to you about how much you gamble,” he says.
Ramaswamy Viswanathan, MD, the current president of the American Psychiatric Association, said the inability to stick to a set amount of money and a lack of interest in other activities could also be signs of compulsive behavior.
“If you are struggling to limit yourself, or seem to have lost enthusiasm for other pastimes, it may be time to draw the line and to ask for help,” Viswanathan said in a statement.
To alert more people to the potential problems that come with excessive sports betting, Levounis says he’d like to see the government require more aggressive warnings.
“I would like to see something very similar to what we see with the regulation of advertising in alcohol and tobacco,” he says.
Levounis also thinks that there should be a greater public recognition of the problems that can come with online betting. He points to the addition of gambling addiction to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
“I certainly hope that both policymakers and society at large start appreciating gambling as a potential addiction, not unlike alcohol, heroin or tobacco,” he says.
To get help
National Council on Problem Gambling
1-800-GAMBLER (426-2537)
855-2CALLGA (855-222-5542)
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:
Dial or text 988 to connect with someone. Help is available 24/7.
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