The new UMass survey found a significant increase in the share of regular gamblers who think legal betting is now too widely available in the Bay State, and a corresponding drop in the share who think all gambling should be legal.<\/p>\n
The report does not explicitly link shifting attitudes solely to the rise in sports betting, but researchers note that \u201cin the wake of sports betting legalization, monthly gamblers in the 2023 and 2024 surveys reported less favorable attitudes toward gambling compared to those in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers cautioned the survey, conducted in the fall of 2024, was taken by a self-enrolled group of 3,045 people. The results focus only on the roughly 56 percent of those people who reported gambling at least once a month, and thus cannot be taken as a scientific barometer of attitudes in Massachusetts as a whole. <\/p>\n
Jack Kelley, 26, of Grafton told The Boston Globe he started betting on sports for the fun of it, a new thrill that combined his avid fandom with the chance to win a few bucks.<\/p>\n
Kelley rooted for the legalization of sports betting in 2022, and after the apps launched, he started regularly wagering on DraftKings and Sleeper. He was up $400 after the first year before a big bet netted him another $1,000 in winnings. Then Kelley lost $600 within a couple of months, mostly on in-game wagers on individual plays, known as prop bets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just left a ton of money on the table for no reason other than I wanted to keep gambling,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelley said he pulled back from making bets by himself because he felt he was \u201cat the beginning of something that could be negative,\u201d and now only does so in social situations, such as with friends. He told the Globe he now sees more downsides to online sports betting.<\/p>\n
With more and more people betting on sports, lead author Rachel Volberg, a UMass Amherst public health professor, recommended developing \u201ceducation and harm reduction strategies targeting sports bettors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe these reports will serve as an important early warning system to allow for timely efforts at gambling harm minimization and mitigation in the Commonwealth,\u201d Volberg told the gaming commission during a recent presentation.<\/p>\n
The Sports Betting Alliance, a coalition of sports betting companies that includes FanDuel and Boston-based DraftKings, told the Globe that legalized online sports betting in Massachusetts and the United States \u201chas brought a regulated market that has delivered the strongest customer protections available that encourage players to budget.\u201d <\/p>\n
A spokesman for the alliance downplayed any role sports betting might have played in the troubling trends detected in the survey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is that the average sports betting customer spends less per month than they spend on their coffee, while problem gaming rates across the US have remained low and stable even as more states have chosen to create a legal sports betting market,\u201d said the spokesman, Nathan Click.<\/p>\n
Jordan Maynard, chairman of the gaming commission, told the Globe the UMass report highlights a need to take more steps to prevent people from falling into addiction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have work to do,\u201d he said. \u201cWe continue to do this research, and this really gives us the license to intervene when appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
A separate survey of a small group of young adults suggests more pointed issues with sports betting by youth, even those too young to legally bet on games. The limited study, presented to the gaming commission Thursday, found that most people between the ages of 18 and 25 think advertisements for sports betting should be regulated or restricted and more problem gambling resources should be provided and promoted.<\/p>\n
Massachusetts lawmakers have begun exploring proposals that could reshape gambling in the state in divergent ways, with debate on the measures expected ahead of state budget cycle in 2026.<\/p>\n
State Senator John Keenan is sponsoring the \u201cBettor Health Act,\u201d<\/a> which would raise the tax rate on sports betting operators, limit advertising for online sports wagering during televised sporting events, and ban prop betting, which are wagers with fast-moving odds made during live action that allow people to bet on everything from pitch speeds in baseball, free throws in basketball and the next goal-scorer in hockey. <\/p>\n Keenan, a Democrat from Quincy, called the survey results \u201creally concerning\u201d in an interview with the Globe.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that we\u2019ve got a growing problem with gambling in general,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe sports betting has accelerated that problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Another bill would push statewide gambling in the opposite direction<\/a>, legalizing online casino games and allowing people to play slots and blackjack on their smartphones.<\/p>\n That bill\u2019s sponsor, Senator Paul Feeney, said the change would bring a black market into the light with regulation and tax revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes five seconds of basic searching to find a trove of available websites at which you can gamble online,\u201d said the Democrat from Foxborough. \u201cToday, Massachusetts consumers have instant access to an unregulated, unmonitored, largely predatory iGaming market. Young people are targeted through social media ads and influencers are paid to lure them in. It\u2019s like the wild wild West when it comes to online gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n If Massachusetts legalized online casino-style games, or \u201ciGaming,\u201d current sportsbooks such as DraftKings and FanDuel could expand their operations to include them, as they have in other states.<\/p>\n Feeney said regulating the market would include consumer protections and funding for public health. His bill will face resistance from workers at brick-and-mortar casinos who worry they could lose their jobs if iGaming passes.<\/p>\n Keenan said it\u2019s too much too fast.<\/p>\n \u201cTo go any further would just be to throw gasoline on an already growing fire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In a statement supporting legalizing iGaming, DraftKings spokesperson Stephen Miraglia said the company\u2019s products are \u201cbuilt to deliver customers a fun and entertaining experience\u201d while the legal industry protects gamblers in a way that that illegal operators do not. He said iGaming would bring in new tax money.<\/p>\n Click, of the Sports Betting Alliance, said illegal online casinos and sportsbooks \u201croutinely cheat customers, do not provide the same level of customer protections, have been linked by law enforcement to organized crime, and continue to target Americans in markets where legal gaming is not available.\u201d<\/p>\n Maynard, the gambling commission chairman, declined to comment on any of the pending legislation. He said the commission shares its research publicly in hopes decision-makers are well-informed, but his practice is to \u201cstay in my lane.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re the umpire, right? We don\u2019t make the rules,\u201d he said. \u201cWe enforce them.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the two years since online sports wagering launched in Massachusetts, Mike Murray, 41, of Worcester, said he\u2019s enjoyed the casual excitement of hitting a prop bet at the bar and covering his drinks tab with his winnings. <\/p>\n With two young kids, nights out are less common for him and can\u2019t always be planned to match his favorite sports teams\u2019 schedules. Sports betting apps and in-game wagers make watching random games more entertaining, he said. <\/p>\n Murray said he\u2019s glad people no longer have to gamble in the shadows with bookies. But he wouldn\u2019t mind some tweaks to the rules.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that some regulation around advertising, especially who\u2019s allowed to advertise and when it\u2019s allowed, would be appropriate,\u201d he told the Globe.<\/p>\n Online casino games, though, would be \u201cripe for abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think that there\u2019s a lot of risk there, especially around addiction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kelley, the Grafton resident who now bets much less on sports, thinks iGaming should not move forward without more restrictions. The two bills under consideration should be crafted side-by-side to have \u201cmore pros than cons,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cBut I also am very aware of how slow-moving our state Legislature is,\u201d Kelley added. \u201cI think that the ask of, \u2018Hey, can we pass these two bills at the same time?\u2019 is, unfortunately, a pretty hefty ask for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Joey Flechas can be reached at joey.flechas@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on X @joeflech<\/a>.<\/p>\n