{"id":655373,"date":"2026-03-14T15:45:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T15:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/655373\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T15:45:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T15:45:26","slug":"experts-warn-surge-in-online-sports-betting-is-drawing-teens-into-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/655373\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts warn surge in online sports betting is drawing teens into gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Online sports betting<\/a> is emerging as a growing digital distraction among adolescents, particularly teenage boys, experts warn.<\/p>\n

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The multi-billion-dollar industry is expanding rapidly as betting platforms become increasingly accessible through smartphone apps. Online gambling is expected to generate US$8.7 billion by 2030, up from US$3.9 billion in 2024, according to data compiled by Grand View Research, with sports betting registering the fastest growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can just turn on your phone and then all of a sudden you can be betting hundreds of dollars,\u201d student Alex Bergman from Montreal\u2019s Dawson College told Global News on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Another student at the college, who asked not to be identified, said he lost $2,000 through online betting, including sports gambling.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so accessible. And it feels like when you\u2019re not gambling, you\u2019re missing out on making money, and you just have this urge to keep gambling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:29
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudy says more Ontario male teens and men seeking help for gambling problems\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Dr. Jeff Derevensky of McGill University, director of the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-risk Behaviours, says sports betting among youths is becoming an epidemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to raise more awareness as a public health issue and as a mental health issue,\u201d Derevensky told Global News in an interview. He says stronger regulations are needed.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAdvertising, accessibility, availability will breed more individuals with gambling problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Benjamin Bresinger runs Chabad Lifeline, a treatment and counselling centre for youth with at-risk behaviour and addiction. He says families are increasingly seeking help for teenagers hooked on online gambling, particularly sports betting.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoys between the ages of 12 and 16, that\u2019s where it\u2019s really taken off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Experts say part of the appeal comes from slick advertising campaigns from a growing number of online sports betting websites and apps, some featuring high-profile celebrities and athletes.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSports betting ads need to be scrapped, senators urge in letter to Carney\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Some of these high-profile names include Drake, Kendall Jenner, Connor McDavid, Wayne Gretzky, Kevin Hart, Jamie Foxx, Auston Matthews, LeBron James, Rob Gronkowski , Megan Thee Stallion, Peyton and Eli Manning, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tony Hawk, and Shaquille O\u2019Neal.<\/p>\n

The companies they have endorsed include BetMGM, Stake, Fanatics, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook, PokerStars and more.<\/p>\n

\u2018Micro-betting\u2019 concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Ontario, a study published earlier this month said<\/a> the\u00a0rate of young men contacting Ontario\u2019s mental health helpline for gambling-related problems has increased by more than 300 per cent after the province allowed private online gambling.<\/p>\n

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The researchers behind the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal said the findings showed a need for stronger harm-reduction measures and more access to treatment.<\/p>\n

Dr. Daniel Myran, a research chair at North York General Hospital who co-authored the study, said the study includes concerns around micro-betting and other types of gambling that are associated with higher risk of addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say that you bet on the outcome of the Super Bowl. It\u2019s one bet that you\u2019ve made. But you can now actually bet on events that occur within the game itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means that if you lose money, you might do what\u2019s called loss chasing, where you try and re-wager it to win more, and it can really accelerate people into gambling disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myran noted there has been a higher volume of gambling marketing since the privatization of betting in the province.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we need to think very carefully about who these ads are reaching and the messages that they\u2019re conveying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we see that the visits or the contacts have really gone up in young men, I think that this is exactly who\u2019s being targeted by the advertisements and who\u2019s going to be placing sports bets.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the study\u2019s findings underscore why gambling disorders need to be treated as a public health issue and treatment should be readily available.<\/p>\n

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\u2013with files from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore Ontario men are contacting gambling helpline, study says\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Online sports betting is emerging as a growing digital distraction among adolescents, particularly teenage boys, experts warn. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":655374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2147,210,517,62,8930,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-655373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-mental-health","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-sports-betting","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116228307628816937","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}