As sports betting grows, so does concern about problem gambling in young adults

Lori Manson, of ADEPT Maine, an Augusta nonprofit that administers problem gambling services in the state, says gambling is seen as more acceptable these days, which makes it dangerous for people growing up now. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

For Atticus Smith, the money wasn’t real. But the rush was.

He was a freshman at the University of Maine when he was introduced by his roommate to Fliff, a sports prediction app. He used it to follow and place bets on Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts using in-app currency, as opposed to putting his own, real money on the line.

“It’s that risk and reward feeling,” said Smith, now 24. “It makes me feel like I can actually play along with the guys who are actually putting down bets. … I genuinely have fun doing it, even though I know what I’m doing doesn’t have any real currency to it.”

Fliff had an option to put in real cash. Smith was tempted, but never took it. He knows many who have, and he understands the pull.

“We do have a friend we had to sit down and talk with to be like, ‘Don’t get into this,’ because he has had a history of gambling issues,” he said. “With Apple wallet and your cards being right on your phone, the temptation is definitely there. You can just press a couple of buttons.”

As more and more states legalize sports betting — 38 states, including Maine, allow mobile betting, the most popular form — the potential for problem gambling has drawn the alarm of the support and recovery community, with people calling attention to sports gambling’s addictive nature, its unrelenting advertising and its prevalence in society.

Most of their concern has become centered on young adults, the teenagers and 20-somethings growing up with it all being way more accessible, marketed and popular than it’s ever been before.

“It’s the next epidemic that most people are unaware of. I think it’s going to dwarf the opioid epidemic,” said Jay P., a New Hampshire resident who attends and hosts anonymous gambling support meetings in Maine and Massachusetts. He asked not to use his full name out of privacy concerns. He said a police officer came to a meeting recently warning of a coming “tsunami.”

“Back in the day when I used to bet with a sportsbook, it was something you didn’t talk about, you know? That was a dirty thing,” Jay P. said. “Now you can go on DraftKings, you can go on FanDuel, you can go on BetMGM, all these different sites, Fanatics and Wager. It’s literally glamorized.”

Up in Maine, Smith said he’s seen the same thing.

“It comes up in really basic conversation, too. ‘Oh, did you watch the game last night?’ ‘Yeah, I missed my parlay,’” he said. “You don’t really find a sports-based conversation that doesn’t involve some comment on winning or losing a bet.”

TRENDING YOUNG

It’s difficult to get a definitive sense of how widespread and prevalent sports betting is among young adults in Maine.

Data breaking down the ages of bettors is not available, said Lori Manson of ADEPT Maine, an Augusta nonprofit that administers problem gambling services in the state, including free counseling, no-cost financial counseling and self-exclusion services.

The Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Gambling Control Unit, also said it doesn’t track gambling activity by age.

Some national data, however, has emerged indicating sports gambling’s increasing influence on young adults. In September 2024, Fairleigh Dickinson University released a survey in which 26% of men under age 45 said they bet on sports.

This March, a survey from The Harris Poll found that 33% of respondents between ages 21 and 44 had placed a bet before turning 21, which is the legal gambling age in most states.

“Youth are at significantly greater risk for developing gambling problems,” National Council on Problem Gambling Executive Director Heather Maurer said in a news release announcing the results, “and as gambling becomes increasingly normalized in media, sports, and online spaces, the risks grow.”

That normalization has seen sports gambling become welcomed by the industry. ESPN frequently includes gambling breakdowns and advice in its broadcasting. Sportsbook apps dominate TV and radio commercial advertising, and their branding is included on the floors of basketball arenas, the walls of baseball parks and the boards of hockey rinks.

Colin Campbell, who just finished his senior season with the Bowdoin men’s lacrosse team, said he didn’t hear much gambling chatter on campus, but hears it more among his friends from home in Cape Elizabeth.

“They’re big into sports betting. They talk about it frequently,” he said, adding that they place bets about once a week.

Madison Weeks, a senior at Bonny Eagle High School, said she hears classmates talk about betting as well. The state’s two mobile sportsbooks, DraftKings and Caesars, require bettors to be 21. Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi, however, and less-regulated apps only require the user to be 18. Most sportsbooks verify ages through an automated system that requires users to provide Social Security numbers or upload a photo ID.

“Mostly just classmates within the school that are turning 18, they’re getting that freedom, and I do hear them talking about that,” she said. “They’re just talking about the games that are upcoming, and they’re like, ‘What can I put into this?’”

‘THEY LOOK AT IT AS INVESTING’

For young adults, Manson, from ADEPT Maine, said gambling can carry a dangerous appeal.

“When I was growing up, a lot of people considered gambling to be a moral failing,” she said. “With this generation, there are social media influencers and people that are really proud of their gambling. They look at it as investing.”

Lori Manson of ADEPT Maine says, “When I was growing up, a lot of people considered gambling to be a moral failing,” she said. “With this generation, there are social media influencers and people that are really proud of their gambling. They look at it as investing.” (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)