Gambling Addiction Searches Surging Across the U.S.
Expertise: Online casinos, Game tester
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Following the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, which allowed states to legalize sports betting, search queries for gambling addiction help grew by 23% nationwide. Researchers estimated that between 6.5 and 7.3 million searches were made on topics such as “gambling addiction hotline” between January 2016 and June 2024.
Searches Increased Following Legalization
States with legalized online sports betting saw even sharper rises. The study found that searches increased beyond expectations in Illinois (35%), Massachusetts (47%), Michigan (37%), New Jersey (34%), New York (37%), Ohio (67%), Pennsylvania (50%), and Virginia (30%). Furthermore, online sportsbooks had a bigger impact than retail sportsbooks in driving these increases.
Pennsylvania online casinos and sportsbooks search activity rose 33% above expectations in the five months leading up to the market launch. Once online gambling became available, searches surged to 61% above expected levels and remained high for a year.
The lead author of the study, Atharva Yeola, a student researcher at the UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute, said that:
The significantly higher search volumes observed in all eight states make it virtually impossible that our findings occurred by chance.
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Federal Funding for Addiction Treatment
This month, legislation was reintroduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., and if passed, it will provide dedicated federal funding for gambling addiction treatment, prevention and research across the country. It stipulated that 50% of the federal sports excise tax revenue should be used for gambling addiction treatment and research.
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