Young people are being exposed to gambling-like mechanics long before they place their first sports bet, according to several speakers during a panel discussion at SBC Summit Americas last week in Ft. Lauderdale.
Moderated by Almond Digital Health CEO Kevin Winters, the panel featured former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Dr. Nathan Carroll, Dr. Toby Ewing, Dr. Erica Bath, and Hard Rock International’s Paul Pellizzari. The group examined whether public-health systems are equipped to address the realities of modern gambling, online gaming, and digital reward systems.
Winters opened the discussion by pointing to the growing number of environments where young people encounter reward-based systems, including video games, social media, sports betting, prediction markets, and sweepstakes casinos. He questioned whether prevention, treatment, and education systems have evolved quickly enough to keep pace.
Kennedy said the conversation should extend beyond gambling itself. “Addiction is addiction is addiction is addiction,” he said.
Drawing from his own experience in recovery and decades of work in mental health policy, Kennedy argued that gambling, gaming and technology increasingly compete for the same neurological reward pathways. “We’re priming our kids, wiring them from the earliest of ages to be addicts.”
Kennedy also said the healthcare system has yet to fully integrate mental-health and addiction treatment into broader medical care, making it difficult to respond effectively as new forms of addiction emerge.
Bath, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at UCLA, said many young people don’t recognize when they’re engaging in gambling-related behavior. She pointed to gaming platforms such as Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite as examples of environments where children may encounter gambling-like reward structures before they fully understand the risks associated with them. Families often lack that understanding as well, she said.
Bath added that technology use and gambling behaviors are becoming increasingly interconnected. “We have a technology addiction problem.”
Carroll, a psychiatrist and senior advisor for behavioral addictions and digital health, questioned whether current prevention and treatment systems reflect today’s gambling environment.
“If gambling-related harm was emerging for the first time today, would we build the same prevention and treatment standards we currently have? No, we would not,” Carroll said.
According to Carroll, the industry’s emphasis on seamless digital experiences deserves additional scrutiny. “Right now, everything is so focused on a frictionless experience. I want more friction.” He argued that moments of interruption can help consumers assess their behavior before problems become more severe.
The panel also examined the role operators can play in addressing gambling-related harm.
Pellizzari, vice president of global social responsibility at Hard Rock International, said the industry should be thinking beyond regulatory requirements. “We need to think about responsible gambling and things we can do beyond compliance.”
Pellizzari noted that previous expansions of gambling have often been followed by increases in problem-gambling rates. He suggested the current environment presents a different challenge because of technology’s reach and the degree to which younger audiences encounter gambling-adjacent products.
Ewing, a former executive director of the California Commission on Behavioral Health, encouraged attendees to think about the relationship between public health and gambling in a broader context. “What is the public good of gambling?” Ewing asked.
While panelists approached the issue from different perspectives, several returned to the same concern: prevention, education, and treatment systems were largely built before gambling became intertwined with gaming, social media, and other digital platforms. As those environments continue to evolve, panelists suggested healthcare providers, educators, families, and operators may all have a role in determining whether public-health efforts can keep pace.
