{"id":155221,"date":"2025-06-03T16:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T16:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/155221\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T16:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T16:23:07","slug":"sports-betting-addictions-are-surging-young-men-are-unprepared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/155221\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports betting addictions are surging. Young men are unprepared."},"content":{"rendered":"

To Sam DeMello\u2019s friends, it seemed like the then 26-year-old had everything together: a six-figure tech salary<\/a>, an enviable workout regimen<\/a> and a happy relationship. But as he crossed the finish line of the 2013 Nike San Francisco marathon<\/a>, he was surrounded by a deep sense of self-loathing.<\/p>\n

His friends, family and girlfriend had no idea he was struggling with a crippling sports betting addiction<\/a>. He fell into an addiction just a few weeks after being introduced to sports gambling, though he didn\u2019t realize it until years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my friends would come to me and say, ‘Congratulations, man, you’re crushing it. We’re so proud of you,\u2019\u201d DeMello says. \u201cI would just feel this dissonance, because I felt so fraudulent.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeMello, now 38 and in recovery, wishes he saw the warning signals sooner.<\/p>\n

As legalized sports betting grows across the United States, a growing number of young men are falling into gambling addictions without recognizing the signs. Driven by the explosion of mobile betting platforms and a lack of age-targeted resources, many see betting as a form of entertainment or investing until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

The problem, addiction experts say, is as serious as substance abuse and widely misunderstood \u2014 and it could be the next public health crisis for young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last seven years, we’ve had expansion of gambling and sports betting to the point where it’s not only just normalized, but it’s embedded in everything we do in American culture,\u201d says co director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program Dr. Timothy Fong \u201c[Teens are] growing up thinking that sports entertainment is gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sports gambling addiction explained: <\/strong>Inside the high-stakes, high-risk world of sports betting and how it’s gripping young men<\/a><\/p>\n

How the brain rationalizes addiction\u00a0<\/p>\n

Addiction develops<\/a> when a substance or behavior triggers the reward center of the brain. The rush of that activity \u2014 like hitting a parlay \u2014 sends a fast release of the pleasure-inducing chemical dopamine to the brain. Over time, this repeated behavior overwhelms the brain\u2019s reward pathways in a way that can permanently alter how it processes impulse control, pleasure and motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith substances, you’re actually physically injecting something or inhaling it or somehow putting it into your body, whereas with problem gambling, it’s all behavioral,\u201d says Heather Eshleman, the prevention manager at the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling.<\/p>\n

That distinction has led to increased stigma.<\/p>\n

\u201cGambling addiction is incredibly stigmatized, even more so than substance use disorder,\u201d says Cait Huble of the National Council on Problem Gambling. \u201cA lot of people incorrectly still assume that it is a moral failing, lack of self control, when chemically, it’s exactly the same as any other type of addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting to gamble at a younger age and doing so more frequently are key factors that increase the risk of developing a gambling addiction, according to Fong. There\u2019s a large deficit in young adults\u2019 ability to deal with the highs and lows of gambling. Teenagers\u2019 executive functioning, abstract thinking and decision-making skills continue to develop through age 25.<\/p>\n

\u201cA (teenager’s) brain doesn’t have impulse control. It doesn’t have the ability to recover from losses quickly,\u201d Fong says. \u201cIt knows, ‘I want money, I want excitement, I want things that my friends have. I want to prove that I’m super cool to my friends.’ \u201d<\/p>\n

Young men often view gambling as a hobby<\/p>\n

During the height of his addiction, DeMello\u2019s life revolved around scheduled sports games. He gambled on his phone during the elevator rides down from the $150-an-hour therapy sessions he booked. He would check his wagers before he put on his clothes after the deprivation flotation tank sessions he bought to relax his mind. And when he attended Burning Man as an escape, the last thing he did before he lost cell service was see if his bets won.<\/p>\n

Still, DeMello didn’t understand he had an addiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gambling addictions, he thought, were for guys spending their last $5 at the horse track, not him. He never put charges on his credit card that he didn\u2019t pay back, and he didn\u2019t borrow money from anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kept me in addiction for probably seven years,\u201d DeMello says.<\/p>\n

Like DeMello, many young men view gambling as a hobby or way to engage with their favorite sports team. After a 2018 Supreme Court overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) turned regulation of betting over to the states, a boom in legalization followed. Today, sports betting is legal in 39 states and the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n

Sportsbooks became accessible in young adults\u2019 pockets all day, every day. A multi-million dollar advertising blitz quickly followed legalization, reaching millions of American teens who watch sports. There is no federal legislation specific to sports betting advertisements, leaving the field unregulated compared to laws that restrict ads for traditional gambling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Young adults over the age of 18 can gamble with units as small as $5 or $10. And online sportsbook apps like DraftKings and FanDuel offer incentives for new customers to bet seemingly risk-free.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a lot of young people who come in, get exposed to the gambling and have a means to gamble with a little bit, and then that activates the addiction,\u201d Fong says.<\/p>\n

Huble says that part of the problem is that young people don\u2019t recognize activities like raffles, bingo and fantasy sports as gambling. While 92% of those 65 or older consider betting on sports outcomes to be gambling, the figure drops to 50% when looking at 18 to 24 year olds, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling\u2019s 2021 NGAGE survey<\/a> of public attitudes toward gambling.<\/p>\n

DeMello tried upwards of 50 times to quit cold turkey, and he would make it two or three days before he relapsed. He lived with his fianc\u00e9e for a year without her knowing. But he eventually developed an alcohol and drug problem as a result of his gambling addiction \u2014 something gambling experts say is common.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s always the same story with other addictive disorders, that they run together with mental health,\u201d Fong says. \u201cThe chicken leads to the egg, and the egg leads to the chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gambling is easier than ever. <\/strong>Report warns it’s a global ‘threat to public health.’<\/a><\/p>\n

‘I did not think that I had an addiction’<\/p>\n

As DeMello lost control over his gambling, he punished himself in other ways \u2014 refusing to buy groceries, manically tracking calories or pushing himself to exhaustion in the gym. Over the 10 years when addiction ruled his life, he estimates that he lost between $500,000 and $1 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about gambling being the hidden addiction, because it’s really easy to hide from other people, but it’s also really easy to hide from yourself,\u201d DeMello says. \u201cI did not think that I had an addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

When DeMello tried traditional methods for treating addiction, he felt isolated. When he started attending therapy, his therapist\u2019s prodding about his childhood trauma didn\u2019t resonate \u2014 he was acutely aware of his privilege growing up in Oakland in the ’90s. He figured he\u2019d try a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. But he was the youngest person in the room by 30 years and gave up after six months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked out of my first therapy appointment and said, \u2018Oh, this isn’t for me. This is for people with real problems,\u2019\u201d DeMello says.<\/p>\n

To correct that understanding, experts like Fong and Eshleman say responsible gambling education needs to start much younger.<\/p>\n

What parents, young people need to know about sports betting addictions<\/p>\n

Gambling prevention materials haven\u2019t caught up to the industry\u2019s boom and receive less support compared to mandated education on cannabis, tobacco and alcohol use. Unlike other mental health and addiction services, there are no federal agencies that oversee problem gambling.<\/a> As a result, gambling prevention is left to the states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at how many young people just dive into this behavior, they dive into it really with very little training or education. There’s no owner’s manual, right? There’s no teacher, as it were, to show them how to gamble responsibly,\u201d Fong says.<\/p>\n

When it comes to recovery resources, DeMello says gambling harm reduction advocates need to show up for young people in a digital environment, where the stigma of having to pick up the phone and call somebody is a barrier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He founded Evive, a digital therapy app specific to gambling, to fill a gap in age and technology. Based out of Boston, health authorities in Oregon, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Virginia and Nevada have partnered with the app.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Fong and DeMello say conversations about sports betting can start at home, where adults should advocate for responsible habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needs to become part of the American Zeitgeist that you talk to your kids about sex and drugs and gambling,\u201d DeMello says.<\/p>\n

Young adults struggling with responsible gambling can text or call\u00a0National Problem Gambling Helpline<\/a>\u00a024 hours a day at 800-GAMBLER or find a\u00a0Gamblers Anonymous<\/a>\u00a0meeting.<\/p>\n

Rachel Hale\u2019s role covering Youth Mental Health at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal Ventures and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Reach her at\u00a0rhale@usatoday.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@rachelleighhale<\/a>\u00a0on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To Sam DeMello\u2019s friends, it seemed like the then 26-year-old had everything together: a six-figure tech salary, an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[785,65977,5176,45803,45811,8745,535,6732,19630,45807,105,218,6584,12,5179,6591,45800,11759,79,16,15,11758,45810,25278],"class_list":{"0":"post-155221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-alcohol","9":"tag-alcohol-drugs-and-gambling","10":"tag-and","11":"tag-compulsive","12":"tag-compulsive-gambling","13":"tag-content","14":"tag-drugs","15":"tag-gambling","16":"tag-grant","17":"tag-grant-pivotal-ventures","18":"tag-health","19":"tag-mental-health","20":"tag-negative","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-overall","23":"tag-overall-negative","24":"tag-pivotal","25":"tag-sharing","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-uk","28":"tag-united-kingdom","29":"tag-usat","30":"tag-usat-content-sharing-sports","31":"tag-ventures"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114620360776857621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}