A study in JAMA reveals a significant increase in problem gambling-related searches since 2021, with a 23% rise in queries like "Am I addicted to gambling?"
State regulators could publish annual data to inform public debate, particularly the total number of online actives, GGR per active, number of online actives self-excluding due to problem gambling and their GGR per active. Even better if they broke it down by age profile and also shared data on the use of responsible gambling tools. Why rely on unreliable surveys when you have hard data?
I sat on a panel a decade ago with an addiction expert who said, correctly, that young men are more likely to experience addiction issues, and then speculated, incorrectly, that they were the primary source of revenue for the online sports betting industry. I was able to share data from the UK that showed men under 25 lost about a third the amount of older gamblers.
If you just followed the money, then people at risk of compulsive gambling who lacked the disposable income to wager heavily would fly under the radar.
State regulators could publish annual data to inform public debate, particularly the total number of online actives, GGR per active, number of online actives self-excluding due to problem gambling and their GGR per active. Even better if they broke it down by age profile and also shared data on the use of responsible gambling tools. Why rely on unreliable surveys when you have hard data?
I sat on a panel a decade ago with an addiction expert who said, correctly, that young men are more likely to experience addiction issues, and then speculated, incorrectly, that they were the primary source of revenue for the online sports betting industry. I was able to share data from the UK that showed men under 25 lost about a third the amount of older gamblers.
If you just followed the money, then people at risk of compulsive gambling who lacked the disposable income to wager heavily would fly under the radar.
Agree. I was speaking to Keith Whyte yesterday, and he made the same recommendations. You can't measure what you don't track.