By Dylan Bigelow / Jambar Contributor
DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM and more, the ads are everywhere. Sports betting has saturated the advertising market since its federal legalization in 2018, promising free bets and easy wins. The strategy has paid off, especially on college campuses.
A study published last year by the NCAA surveyed college-aged adults about their sports betting habits and found that nearly 60% had participated at least once, while 4% reported betting daily.
Joseph Lucente, a junior business administration major, has been sports betting since its legalization in Ohio last year.
“FanDuel did a deal with Webull and Robinhood, so when I was doing my investing, they advertised, ‘You can earn $50 on your first bet,’” Lucente said. “I was like, ‘All right.’”
Lucente said he rarely bets more than $5 at a time.
“It’s usually a 50-cent parlay, and it’ll be an 18-leg parlay, maybe 14-leg,” Lucente said.
A parlay is a bet consisting of multiple wagers, all of which must win for the bettor to receive a payout.
Lucente’s small bets place him in the extreme minority, according to the NCAA study. Only 3.1% of those surveyed wagered less than $1 per bet, while nearly 5% admitted to betting $100 or more on average. For 79% of respondents, a typical bet ranged from $1 to $50.
An analysis by the University at Buffalo, published in 2013, before sports betting was federally legalized, found that just over 10% of college students were pathological gamblers.
Pathological gambling is defined as the inability to resist the urge to gamble despite negative consequences.
The NCAA survey supports this trend. The study placed 16% of respondents in a high-risk category based on three risky behaviors:
Betting more than several times a week.
Wagering $50 or more on a typical bet.
Losing more than $500 in a single day.
Of those who exhibited at least one of these risky behaviors, 70% believed they could win a lot of money by gambling consistently.
Stephanie Geer, the problem gambling program coordinator at Meridian HealthCare, said gambling addiction is formally diagnosed as gambling disorder.
“An individual must meet diagnostic criteria, which can be determined by a professional during an assessment,” Geer said.
Criteria for a gambling disorder diagnosis include persistent thoughts about gambling, increasing wager amounts to maintain excitement, lying to others about gambling habits and repeatedly chasing losses.
Geer noted that availability, accessibility and acceptability play significant roles in the development of gambling disorder.
“[Online] sports betting has taken the accessibility from having to travel to a brick-and-mortar location to being able to access gambling anywhere, anytime, at our fingertips,” Geer said.
Help is available for those struggling with gambling problems. The National Council on Problem Gambling offers a range of resources, including answers to frequently-asked questions, a self-assessment of gambling behavior and information about treatment.
The council also runs the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-426-2537, which connects individuals to local support services.
