Expansion of online sports betting contributes to the risk of problem gambling among young adults, but operators can’t fight it alone, responsible-gaming leaders told attendees at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) last week.
“It’s not just sports betting that this this younger audience is exposed to and it’s not just the bettor that we need to be talking to about these messages,” said Jennifer Shatley, president and CEO of the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA), which represents almost 85% of the legal U.S. online gaming market by handle.
Shatley moderated a panel discussion, “From Sports Fan to Sports Bettor: Evolving Responsible Gaming for Today’s Sports Bettor.” Serving on the panel were Lori Kalani, chief Responsible Gaming officer at DraftKings; Sarah McCarthy, CEO of the Responsible Gambling Council, based in Toronto; and Brandt Iden, vice president of government affairs for Fanatics Betting & Gaming and former state legislator in Michigan.
McCarthy said research shows that messages about gambling risks must be honest and “address the world that they are navigating. When we asked young adults directly, they told us they want facts. They do not want to be told what to do,” she said. “Those tactics do not work for this population.”
Iden said operators should engage young adults on their preferred social-media platform. “When we’re talking to these different cohorts, we have to talk at their level.” He added that because Fanatics sells sports merchandise and collectibles in addition to offering sportsbooks, “we talk to the sports fan in different ways.”
For example, the site offers free FanCash to players using its responsible-gambling tools; FanCash, which also is earned from bets, can be used for purchases from all Fanatics verticals. Kalani said DraftKings has a similar program, with chances for NFL or Super Bowl tickets.
“It’s a very positive experience, as opposed to waiting until there’s some issue,” Kalani said. “We want to catch these things at the forefront and really be able to help people. But at the end of the day, this needs to be a fun, entertaining experience.”
Shatley said ROGA offers Know Your Play, a digital-content responsible-gambling tool designed for college-age bettors, developed with the Responsible Gaming Council. It addresses concepts such as impulsivity, the illusion of control, and other issues common to that age group even if they aren’t sports bettors.
“We’re teaching things like financial literacy, which is incredibly important, because they’re brand new to credit cards, understanding debt, understanding management of money, understanding limit-setting across a variety of things, (and) digital health,” Shatley said.
McCarthy said research shows many young adults carry much more financial anxiety than earlier generations and many use betting as a coping strategy. “Of course, that results in increased risk.”
Kalani cited DraftKings’s use of the Gamalyze tool from Mindway AI, which developed a simulated online card game that that provides personalized feedback on the user’s betting tendencies. DraftKings created a soccer version before the World Cup and an American football version for the NFL season, with a golf version under development. “It gives us a very organic way to just talk about (RG) tools,” she said, and the public displays before games gives people a chance to talk with each other about their findings.
Iden said the idea of gambling often starts early, with video games offering “mystery boxes” for sale, arcades awarding prizes for spinning a wheel, grandparents letting toddlers hand over the money for a horse track bet, or parents giving children lottery tickets for Christmas.
Thinking they’re sharing a game with their children, many parents allow children to use their account to make an online sports bet.
McCarthy said RGC research shows that 87% of 18- to 20-year-olds who have gambled say their parents approve, but almost none of those parents consider such actions as introducing their children to gambling. “They just don’t have the information to be able to understand that there is tremendous potential for risk.”
She encouraged providing adults with preventive education about how gambling works, the legal ages and why they exist, and how to open conversations about gambling with young-adult children.
Shatley said responsible-gambling principles have evolved dramatically over the past three to five years, and the panelists believe the efforts need to involve broadcasters, leagues, athletes, parents, regulators, and others to spread and reinforce the message.
Shatley said operators and other organizations are carrying the responsible-gambling message to multiple audiences. She encouraged broadcasters and social media to talk about gambling responsibly, recognizing both its entertainment value and the potential risks.
Iden said the gambling industry welcomes more people and organizations to the responsible-gambling campaign.
“We’re up against tough odds, and we’re working hard, and we need to do better,” Iden said. “But it takes all of us to move the needle on this thing.”
