America’s next epidemic.

More than 10% of college students are pathological gamblers.

That's 5x the national average, by some estimates.

At current enrollment rates, that’s ~1.5 million students.

Add up the collective losses in this group and compound that sum over the next 10-20 years, and this gives a sense of the magnitude of this burgeoning issue. These are real economic losses and many college aged students are not realizing the impact their bets are having on their future wealth.

Universities are looking the other way, with almost none offering counseling services for gambling addiction.

The financial impact is no joke.

For every $1 spent on betting, households put $2 less into investment accounts, and evidence shows increases in the risk of overdrafting a bank account or maxing out a credit card.

— Scott Baker and colleagues at Northwestern University

Sports betting legalization increases the risk that a household goes bankrupt by 25 to 30 percent, and increases debt delinquency.

— Scott Baker and colleagues at Northwestern University

Nearly 60% of college students have bet on sports, and 4% do so daily. Almost 6% reported losing more than $500 in a single day.

— National College Athletic Association

Almost a third (30%) of sports bettors say they have debts they attribute to gambling. Of those with debts related to sports betting, more than half (51%) are facing debts of $500 or more.

— U.S. News

The consequences are not just financial.

  • 96% of individuals with gambling disorders have one or more co-occurring psychiatric conditions.

    Potenza, Badolis, Derevensky, Grant, Petry, Verdejo-Garcia, Yip: “Gambling Disorder”

  • Frequency of sports betting corresponds to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems.

    Joshua B. Grubbs, Alexander J. Connolly, Scott Graupensperger: “Sports Gambling and Drinking Behaviors Over Time”

  • Legal sports betting leads to a roughly nine percent increase in intimate-partner violence.

    Kyutaro Matsuzawa, Emily Arnesen: “Sports Betting Legalization Amplifies Emotional Cues & Intimate Partner Violence”

This is not an isolated problem.

Since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, the door has been opened to legalize sports betting for any state that wishes to do so.

In that same time period, there has been a rise in the number of cases of professional athletes, collegiate athletes, and regular spectators who have suffered life changing consequences from sports betting.

Recent articles from the Wall Street Journal report that not only are sports bettors overly optimistic about their bets, but they also fall prey to sportsbooks offering credits, sometimes numbering hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep wagering.

Only 50% of 18- to 24-year-olds consider betting on sports outcomes to constitute gambling.

National Council on Problem Gambling’s 2021 NGAGE survey

  • While sports betting addiction among college aged adults has yet to be extensively studied, early estimates suggest that 58% of adults have participated in more than 1 sports‑betting activity.

    Of these, 16% engaged in more than 1 “risky” behavior (betting a few times/week or daily.

  • Gambling addiction is proven to lead to more volatile behavior, both within social circles and personal/romantic relationships. Student athletes commonly face abuse from bettors; according U.S. News, 21% of sports bettors say they've verbally abused an athlete, either in person or online, after losing money on a bet.

  • The Foundation has developed a proprietary network of academics, clinicians, advisors, and most importantly students to improve awareness and access to gambling addiction support resources.

    By leveraging the Foundation’s resources, students are able to bring the support that they need to their own campus.

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