Online Sports Betting: A Growing Public Health Concern

The legalization of sportsbooks, following the Supreme Court's decision in Murphy v. NCAA, initially drew little attention from public health experts. However, as John W. Ayers vice chief of innovation in the Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health at UC San Diego, notes, the rapid expansion of online sports betting—from a single state to 38—has led to hundreds of billions in wagers. This surge has coincided with record-breaking demand for gambling addiction support, as millions seek help.

Figure 1. Game Over: The Startling Impact of Sports Betting on Public Health.

The Unprecedented Rise of Sports Betting

AI, especially chatbots, has become better at understanding and responding to human language, making interactions feel more natural and conversational. Figure 1 shows AI Gaining Trust and Becoming More Human-Like.

Increased Familiarity:

Since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling, the sports betting industry has experienced explosive growth: Figure 1 shows Game Over: The Startling Impact of Sports Betting on Public Health.

• The number of states with legal sportsbooks expanded from just one in 2017 to 38 in 2024.
• Total sports wagers surged from $4.9 billion in 2017 to $121.1 billion in 2023, with a staggering 94% of bets placed online last year.

“Sports betting has become deeply embedded in our culture,” said Matthew Allen, a third-year medical student. “From relentless advertising to social media feeds and in-game commentary, sportsbooks are now everywhere. What was once a taboo activity, confined to the fringes of society, has been completely normalized.”

A Public Health Blind Spot

Despite gambling addiction being a recognized disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it remains largely overlooked in healthcare and public health due to the lack of formal ongoing surveillance.

“Without systematic surveillance, we are flying blind while millions bet on sports,” said Kevin Yang, M.D., a third-year resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry.

To address this gap, the research team analyzed aggregate Google search trends from January 1, 2016, through June 30, 2024, focusing on queries related to gambling, addiction, addict, anonymous, or hotline.

“Many people struggling with addiction don’t openly discuss it, but they do turn to the internet for answers,” said Davey of medicine and director of ACTRI. “By analyzing search trends, we can gain real-time insight into the true scale of gambling addiction in the U.S.”

Record Levels of Gambling Addiction Help Seeking

As sportsbooks have expanded, there has been a corresponding surge in internet searches for help with gambling addiction. From Murphy v. NCAA to June 2024, searches for terms like "am I addicted to gambling" have risen by 23% nationwide. This increase reflects approximately 6.5 to 7.3 million searches for gambling addiction help, peaking at 180,000 monthly searches.

States with newly opened sportsbooks saw marked increases in gambling addiction help-seeking, including:

• Illinois (35%)
• Massachusetts (47%)
• Michigan (37%)
• New Jersey (34%)
• New York (37%)
• Ohio (67%)
• Pennsylvania (50%)
• Virginia (30%)

“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 at UC San Diego. “Statistically speaking, the probability of these results happening randomly is less than one in 25.6 billion.”

Online Sportsbooks Drive Even Greater Risk

The study revealed that online sportsbooks have a far greater impact on gambling addiction help-seeking than traditional retail sportsbooks. For example, in Pennsylvania:

• The introduction of retail sportsbooks saw a 33% increase in gambling addiction help searches in the five months before online sportsbooks were launched.
• After online sportsbooks became available, searches surged by 61%—a significantly larger and more sustained increase.

Policy and Public Health Reforms Needed

“The expansion of legalized sports betting to always be at arm’s reach has outpaced our ability to understand and address its public health consequences,” said Nimit Desai, a third-year medical student.

“Our findings are a wake-up call for policymakers, healthcare professionals, and public health advocates to act now.”

To mitigate the risks of expanded sports betting, the researchers recommend the following actions:

1. Increase funding for gambling addiction services using sportsbook tax revenues, ensuring accessible, evidence-based treatment programs.
2. Implement enhanced advertising regulations akin to those for tobacco and alcohol, restricting where and to whom products can be marketed.
3. Establish clinical training programs for healthcare professionals to better diagnose and treat gambling addiction.
4. Strengthen safeguards for online sportsbooks, such as setting betting limits, enforcing age limits, requiring breaks, and restricting credit card use for gambling.
5. Launch public awareness campaigns that emphasize the risks and warning signs of gambling, reduce stigma, and encourage early intervention.
6. Promote ongoing data sharing and research collaborations between regulatory bodies, healthcare providers, and researchers to evaluate and refine policies in real-time.

“Sportsbook regulations are lacking because the Supreme Court, not legislators, legalized them,” concluded Ayers. “Congress must act now by-passing commonsense safeguards. History has shown that unchecked industries—whether tobacco or opioids—inflict immense harm before regulations catch up.

We can either take proactive steps to prevent gambling-related harms or repeat past mistakes and pay the price later.”

Source: SciTECHDaily

Cite this article:

Priyadharshini S (2024), “Game Over: The Shocking Public Health Effects of Sports Betting”,AnaTechmaz, pp. 297