FDU Study Says Young Men Vulnerable to Online Betting Problems

A new study by Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) says the proliferation of online wagering, including sports betting, over the past several years has exacerbated worrisome patterns in certain demographics, including young men.

The report by the New Jersey college indicated surveyed men in the 18 to 30 age range said they have gambling problems at more than triple the national average — 10% compared to 3%. Sports wagering and internet slots are the biggest sources of those problems, according to FDU.

Gambling is generally marketed as entertainment, and for most gamblers it’s just that,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson, and the executive director of the survey. “But there’s always some chance of gambling turning into problem behaviors, and online gambling is proving to be much more dangerous than other kinds.”

It’s been more than six years since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). Over that time, 38 states and Washington, DC approved some form of sports betting, either online or retail, while another six allowed internet casinos. iGaming is expected to grow exponentially in the years ahead as more states seek new revenue sources.

Men More Susceptible to Betting Problems than Women

While there are minor disparities between the percentages of men and women that will indulge in buying lottery tickets and scratchers and visit land-based casinos, the chasm grows when it comes to online wagering.

“Sports betting has been marketed heavily to the young men who are the biggest consumers of sports,” added Cassino. “When every league is partnered with a betting site, people who like sports are going to start gambling on it.”

Add to that, the FDU survey discovered that 24% of men said they have at least one form of a betting problem, but that percentage jumped to 45% for males under 30 and 38% among men 31 to 44.

Online Betting Turns Up Problems, Says FDU

The FDU study isn’t the first to highlight concerning wagering patterns among young men. A 2023 NCAA-commissioned study confirmed 17% of college students, most of whom were men, said they lost at least $100 in a day betting on sports while another 6% said they lost anywhere from $500 to $1,000 in a day.

FDU says there are links between problematic betting and the proliferation of online access, noting bettors that wager via the internet are far more likely to develop bad habits than those that simply play the lottery.

“For instance, only about 1/3rd (34 percent) of voters who say that they play the lottery report any problem gambling behaviors, a figure that rises to about 40 percent of those who play scratch-offs,” concluded the university. “But online gambling is much more linked to problem behaviors: 68 percent of voters who say that they bet on sports online report at least one problem gambling behavior, and a majority (53 percent) have two or more. Eighty-one percent of voters who play online slots have at least one problem behavior, with 2/3rds having two or more; these figures are much higher than for similar games played in person.”