Sports betting has exploded in the 2020s, but recent data shows just how widespread it has become among younger Americans. A Betterment survey of retail investors released in August found that 66% of Gen Z investors participate in sports betting. A September report from the Bank of America Institute revealed that Gen Z made up almost 50% of all online betting activity in July, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, outnumbering millennials for the first time.
“It is more unusual for someone not to have, for example, a Kalshi account, DraftKings … than it is” to have such an account, said Cynthia Grant, vice president of clinical at Birches Health, which provides online therapy for gambling addiction recovery. “It's part of the experience of watching sports now.”
The surge followed a 2018 US Supreme Court ruling that allowed state-authorized sportsbooks, which have since spread to 30 states. The introduction of sports-related event contracts on prediction markets in early 2025 expanded access to additional states without legalized sportsbooks and to those under 21.
Financial and mental health advisors are increasingly concerned. The average user on both a sportsbook and a prediction market loses money, and trying to recover losses can lead to deeper financial trouble, experts warn. The Bank of America Institute survey found that Gen Z was twice as likely as the overall population to see sports betting as a type of investment, compared with 20% of all respondents. In Betterment's survey, 52% of Gen Z respondents considered it investing.