A Canadian study found emergency room visits for gambling disorders doubled after online sports betting expanded.Experts say young men are the primary targets for sportsbooks and prediction market platforms.An American study shows a gambling disorder diagnoses rose 61% in states that legalized sports betting.<\/p>\n
A gambling disorder might not immediately come to mind as an ailment that would send someone to a hospital emergency room. <\/p>\n
But a new study shows emergency department visits \u2014 predominantly among young men \u2014 nearly doubled following the legalization of online sports betting and expansion in the Canadian province of Ontario. <\/p>\n
Canada legalized single-event sports betting in 2021. A year later, Ontario became the first province to allow private companies to operate in a regulated online gambling market alongside the existing government-run platform. Currently, 43 private companies, including some of the world\u2019s largest multinational gambling corporations, run 83 betting and gaming sites in Ontario. In 2024, Ontarians bet $82.7 billion CAD on those sites through 2.6 million accounts.<\/p>\n
ICES, an independent, nonprofit research institute in Ontario that uses population-based health data to improve healthcare, analyzed emergency room visits for gambling disorders among people aged 10 to 105 before and after the expansion to private companies. The results were published in the September issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine.<\/p>\n
Over the 14-year study period, 757 people had a total of 952 emergency room visits in which a gambling disorder was either the main or a contributing reason for the visit. Nearly three-quarters of the patients were male.<\/p>\n
While the absolute numbers are small \u2014 reflecting how rarely gambling disorders are formally diagnosed in emergency settings \u2014 the rate of change after privatization was dramatic.<\/p>\n
Researchers found the number of visits was 154% higher than expected among males aged 10 to 29 and 116% higher than expected among males aged 30 to 44. Among females, there was no significant change. More than 70% of the emergency room visits involved another mental health condition or heavy substance use, and almost a third led to hospitalization.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/WE25C4BALZDF3HDLV7LHACJYHU.jpg\")
Fox Sports broadcaster Greg Olsen, right, who placed the first ceremonial bet in North Carolina, shows his receipt during a DraftKings event celebrating the launch of mobile and online sports wagering across the state at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. | Erik Verduzco, Associated Press <\/p>\n
\u201cThe concentration of the increase among younger males is particularly concerning given the rapid growth and promotion of online sports betting,\u201d study first author Ryan Forrest, a University of Toronto public health doctoral student, said in a press release. \u201cThe consequences of rising gambling involve not just harm to people but wider effects on families and communities.\u201d <\/p>\n
Reaching out for help<\/p>\n
Past research has shown that people with gambling problems seldom pursue treatment, and those who do seek help often do so only after worsening health and social harms.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people experiencing gambling problems will never seek care, so the concern is that the increases in ED visits for gambling disorders we observed may be revealing much larger increases in gambling-related harm,\u201d said study senior author Daniel Myran, the Gordon F. Cheesbrough Research chair at North York General, a scientist at ICES and an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n
A study Myran and his colleagues published in March 2026 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal<\/a> found a substantial increase in gambling-related calls \u2014 again mostly among young men \u2014 to ConnexOntario, the province\u2019s mental health and addiction helpline, after the expansion of online gambling. <\/p>\n Helpline contacts increased 96% overall during the 2012\u20132025 study period. But contacts surged 317% among men and teen boys ages 15\u201324 and 108% among men ages 25\u201344 after privatization.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the group most heavily targeted by sports betting marketing and most likely to participate in online sports betting,\u201d Myran said, per Medscape<\/a>.<\/p>\n Researchers, though, said the increase could have been the result of greater promotion of gambling support services, including requirements for gambling advertisements and websites to display contact information for ConnexOntario.<\/p>\n Increases in both helpline contacts and severe gambling-related emergency department visits add to evidence that expansion of online gambling has been accompanied by more harm, particularly among young men, according to researchers.<\/p>\n Myran said gambling is an underrecognized determinant of health, and clinicians should be aware that gambling-related harms might be increasing.<\/p>\n \u201cAsking about gambling when patients present with mental health concerns, financial stress or substance use can help identify problems earlier and connect patients to support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A second Canadian province allows online betting<\/p>\n This past July, Alberta became the second province to allow private online gambling operators. Myran said other regions of Canada are also considering or facing pressure to follow suit.<\/p>\n \u201cData from Ontario provide an important caution about the potential harms that accompany rapid expansion of online gambling,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cJurisdictions considering expanding or offering online gambling through private operators should carefully weigh these potential risks, and if proceeding, consider additional safeguards, including restrictions on marketing and higher-risk forms of gambling, alongside better recognition and treatment of gambling-related harms.\u201d<\/p>\n Gambling disorder diagnoses rise in the U.S.<\/p>\n In the U.S., 39 states have legalized sports betting in some form, including 30 that allow wagering via smartphone apps or websites. Utah and Hawaii are the only states that prohibit all forms of gambling.<\/p>\n An Epic Research review<\/a> of electronic health records for nearly 200 million American adults found gambling disorder diagnoses rose 61% in states that legalized sports betting since 2018, from 3.0 to 4.8 cases per 100,000 people. <\/p>\n The study released in June 2026 found the steepest jump was among men ages 18 to 29, though adults 30 to 49 had the highest overall rate.<\/p>\n In states that have not legalized sports betting, the rate moved in the opposite direction, falling from 3.1 per 100,000 in 2018 to 2.2 per 100,000 in 2026, a 29% decrease.<\/p>\n Some experts say expanded access to online sportsbooks and prediction markets are helping to drive gambling problems, particularly for younger users.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as you introduce a new form of gambling or dramatically increase the availability of gambling, you will be increasing the number of people that are experiencing harm because of that gambling,\u201d Mark van der Maas, a Rutgers University social work professor who has studied the link between gambling and suicide, told NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n More problems or better screening?<\/p>\n The American Gaming Association, a trade group that represents sportsbooks and other gambling companies, suggests that more diagnoses reflect better screening, not necessarily more addiction.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile problem gambling is a serious condition for those impacted, this study does not indicate an increasing rate of addiction,\u201d it said in a statement, per NBC. \u201cIncreased screening and greater awareness of available resources can often lead to more diagnoses, while decades of research have found no increase in problem gambling rates as legal gaming has expanded.\u201d<\/p>\n The association said the industry invests around $500 million a year in education, research and support for those struggling with problem gambling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Canadian study found emergency room visits for gambling disorders doubled after online sports betting expanded.Experts say young…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411,12260],"class_list":["post-626866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-news-feed-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}