Texas Doctors Push State to Adopt 21 as Youngest Age for Prediction Market Use

Warning that the adolescent brain is primed to take risk and citing data that a rising number of underage males are betting, Texas physicians are urging the state to make 21 the minimum age for usage of prediction markets.

While there’s a smattering of tribal casinos in the U.S. that allow 18-year-olds to wager, the prevailing betting age for casinos, iGaming and regulated sports betting in this country is 21 years old. That requirement isn’t applicable to prediction markets because those entities aren’t regulated comparably to casinos. Plus, the industry is attempting to position itself as akin to financial markets, opening the door for 18-year-olds to procure accounts.

That concerns doctors in the Lone Star State. Physicians there recently embraced a policy from the Texas Medical Association (TMA) calling for the state to enact 21 as the youngest age for prediction market participation.

Dr. Lindy McGee, former chair of TMA’s Committee on Child and Adolescent Health, notes that while prediction markets aren’t legally defined as betting outlets, the exchanges have “all of the psychological trappings of gambling.”

Texas Is an Interesting Case

As of yet, the state hasn’t officially moved to a 21 and up requirement for prediction market trading, but earlier this year, Texas policymakers acknowledged various issues around yes/no exchanges could be examined during the 2027 legislative session.

How the state treats prediction markets going forward is a compelling scenario to watch. Texas is the second-largest state by population and it doesn’t permit online sports betting, making it fertile territory for all-or-nothing exchanges to fill voids for bettors.

Potentially problematic is the fact that in Texas and across the U.S. data suggest that more young boys are finding ways to gamble.

“More than 35% of boys aged 11 to 17 report having gambled in the past year, according to one study,” notes the TMA. “Another found 58% of 18 to 22-year-olds surveyed engaged in at least one sports betting activity.”

McGee points out that adolescent brains are “primed to take risks,” making young people vulnerable to addictions to alcohol, nicotine and wagering.

TMA Has Suggestions

Scores of studies indicate vulnerabilities among young people, particularly males, to problematic wagering patterns. How physicians, policymakers, regulators and therapists address those issues isn’t always uniform, but the TMA has some suggestions for its home state.

In addition to the 21 age requirement, the association wants Texas to restrict prediction market advertising near schools and parks and on social media platforms known for drawing adolescents.

Likewise, the group wants the state to bar from using advertising featuring “celebrities, cartoons, or characters from games and shows marketed toward teens and children.”