Growth in the United States’ gaming market is fueled by younger bettors. That’s true of many segments of the economy.
But in the U.S Betting Report issued today by TransUnion, young, speculative bettors are driving growth in the U.S. gaming market. U.S. betting activity increased to 30% of consumers in the second quarter, compared to 25% in the same period of 2024, according to TransUnion’s U.S. Betting Report.
The results were not surprising to TransUnion Senior Director Declan Raines.
“We’ve seen that in prior editions,” Raines told CDC Gaming. “These particular demographics (Millennials and Gen Z), in particular within sportsbook, are hugely involved from a participation standpoint. So, it’s not a surprise to see that they continue to drive growth within the sector this year. They’d done that for the past two years, which we can confirm.”
The increase among Gen Z and Millennial bettors — 34% and 42%, respectively — especially involved those who invested in speculative financial opportunities.
Raines also was not surprised to find that the increase in betting correlates to those who use cryptocurrency.
“These demographics tend to have a high appetite for risk within their financial ecosystem,” Raines says. “Ultimately, it’s very challenging to get a good grasp from the operator’s perspective of, is this person using cryptocurrency unless someone is telling you that information.”
“From an operator’s standpoint, what we believe is important here is appreciating the customer base that you have,” Raines adds. “The behavioral kinds of trends that this report is highlighting and creating mitigation and prevention strategies that incorporate and have in mind those types of behaviors. How do you create something that’s going to ensure that people are playing with their means?”
Raines agrees that it’s important to prevent bad outcomes associated with consumer behavior, especially among Millennials and Gen Z bettors. That’s why he’s an advocate for education as a pillar of responsible gaming.
“Education is always going to be critical to help inform consumers of the tools available,” Raines says. “I think we’ve seen a lot of different operators have their own strategies and tools within their sites as to how they educate consumers around how much they’re spending, how much they’re losing, how much they’re depositing. Which is critical. And that’s not something that happens in isolation.
“You have different components to responsible gaming strategy. Education is one piece. But you also need to be looking at the consumer holistically.”
Raines said the results of the report are not particularly surprising. But there are some warning signs that merit monitoring.
“I think, in the overarching economy, we’ve had this demographic benefit from a really strong job market,” he says. “But now we’re starting to see a lagging indicator. These demographics are much more at risk to things like federal student loan repayments.
“There’s a lot of headwinds coming at this particular demographic, and I think it how much more from a total monthly debt repayment those consumers are up. It’s 27% from Gen Z and 20% amongst millennials. And what’s interesting is how does that play out over the next 12 months?
“Are we going to see an acknowledgment from those demographics that they need to shift their behavior, or are we going to continue to see that train moving forward?”
