By TheNuts - Oct 01, 2026
Sports Betting On The Rise With Gen Z
Sports betting has skyrocketed in the 2020s, but recent studies reveal how common gambling has become among Generation Z.
66% of Gen Z investors engage in sports betting, according to a poll of retail investors published in August by the investing advisory platform Betterment. In July, during the peak of the
2026 FIFA World Cup, Gen Z accounted for nearly half of all online betting activity, surpassing millennials for the first time, according to a September research from the
Bank of America Institute.
According to Cynthia Grant, vise president of clinical at Birches Health, which offers online therapy for the recovery of online gambling addiction, "it is more unusual for someone not to have, for example, a Kalshi account, DraftKings... than it is" to have such an account. "These days, it's a part of watching sports."
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 decision to permit state-authorized sportsbooks, which have subsequently expanded to 30 states, sports betting skyrocketed. Early in 2025, sports-related event contracts were introduced on prediction markets, which assert that they are financial trades rather than bets. This further increased access for people under 21 and for states without regulated sportsbooks.
Many financial and mental health experts are currently on edge due to the growth of sports betting. The typical user in a sportsbook and prediction market loses money, and experts caution that attempting to recover losses puts customers in much worse financial situations. It should come as no surprise that individuals who suffer the most are more vulnerable to detrimental effects on their mental health.
According to the Bank of America Institute survey, compared to 20% of respondents overall, Gen Z was twice as likely to view sports betting as a kind of investment. Overall, respondents viewed prediction markets as a type of investment, but Gen Z respondents were more likely to do so.
52% of Gen Z participants in Betterment's retail investor study claimed to have transferred funds intended for investments to sports betting, and another 26% considered gambling to be a component of their long-term financial plan.
The management of sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings usually claims that its offerings are amusement rather than investments. Regardless of the category, prediction market platforms claim that event contracts constitute a financial derivative.
According to Dan Egan, director of behavioral finance and investing at Betterment, the association is being fueled by the growing prevalence of sports betting alongside conventional investments on the same app or device.
In contrast to a long-term investment, managing sports bets requires extremely active activity, which makes the confusion alarming, according to Egan.