Online searches for gambling addiction terms have skyrocketed in the last few years across the US, a recent study by the American Medical Association shows, especially in states with legalized online sports betting.
Is it a coincidence that gambling addiction searches have surged after sports betting has been legalized in more states? Doesn’t look like it.
As of 2024, a total of 38 states had legal sportsbooks. The bet amount increased from $4.9 billion in 2017 to over $121 billion in 2023. You tell me the difference. As a matter of fact, 94% of bets were placed online.
The story begins in 2018 when The Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association Supreme Court allowed states to benefit from legal sports betting. Since then, nationwide searches for gambling addiction help-related terms have surged by 23%, from 6.5 to 7.3 million.
The analyzed search queries included terms like addiction, gambling, addict, hotline, anonymous, and gambling addiction hotline, all the way from 2016 to June 2024.
The increase in gambling addiction searches was higher than expected. After the opening of online sportsbooks in states like Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, figures went pretty high. The highest rates were registered in Ohio (67%), Pennsylvania (50%), and Massachusetts (47%).
Take, for instance, Pennsylvania, where retail sportsbooks led to 33% more searches for gambling addiction terms over 5 months before launching the sportsbook. But after the users had access to the sportsbook, searches reached 61%, way over expectations.
To answer the earlier question – coincidence or not, here’s your answer from the study’s main author, Atharva Yeola: “The significantly higher search volumes observed in all eight states make it virtually impossible that our findings occurred by chance.”
The common signs of gambling addiction include frequently thinking about betting, needing to bet higher every time to get the desired thrill, being irritable when cutting down gambling, gambling to escape problems, feeling the need to continue after a loss, betting when feeling distressed, hiding the gambling problem, and cancelling plans with friends and daily chores, to start with.
At least four of these signs need to be present over the past year to diagnose a person with gambling addiction.
You can find a list of hotlines for each state on the Gamblers Anonymous website. Plus, the organization has a questionnaire to help anyone understand if they have a gambling addiction problem.
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