EMILY KWONG, HOST:
Online sports betting has become a multibillion-dollar industry, making it possible for anyone anywhere to bet on games. But that's given rise to addiction issues, especially among young people. WBUR's Patrick Madden reports from Massachusetts.
PATRICK MADDEN, BYLINE: It's a Tuesday night at an Episcopal Church just south of Boston. Inside a meeting room, the final words of the Serenity Prayer hang in the air. There are hugs, handshakes, folding chairs snap shut. Another week of Gamblers Anonymous is over.
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MADDEN: As members head to their cars, I hing back with Michael, who runs the weekly meetings. He says the group's been growing with young people.
MICHAEL: We had 17 new members, I think, in the last five months, and I'd say at least two-thirds of them are probably, you know, 20s, 30s.
MADDEN: The reason, Michael says, is online sports betting. Massachusetts legalized it in 2023. You can pretty much place a bet with an app at any hour from any place on any game. Michael nods to his phone.
MICHAEL: Take the most - one of the most addictive behaviors in mankind and then combine it with one of the most addicting devices of all time. And, you know, it's obviously going to be a disaster.
MADDEN: WBUR set out to document the rise of young adults addicted to online sports betting. We spoke to addiction specialists across the state and interviewed several young men from Gamblers Anonymous meetings. One of them is 26-year-old Jason. We agreed not to use the full names of people in recovery for this story due to their concerns about the stigma of addiction. On a library bench in a suburb outside Boston, Jason recounts how he started betting on sports in college.
JASON: Always had a love and a passion for sports. At first, it was something that was fun.
MADDEN: His gambling ramped up after sports betting was legalized. Jason was making up to 50 wagers a day.
JASON: I was just trapped in my phone watching the gambling lines or watching this European basketball game.
MADDEN: For Jason, the new sports betting apps like DraftKings and FanDuel were easy to use, and their ads were everywhere - on TV and his social media feeds.
JASON: Their whole goal is to flood you with it so that you feel kind of suffocated and you're constantly thinking about it.
MADDEN: The companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars marketing in states that legalized sports betting. They offered sign-up bonuses and hired celebrities, like comedian Kevin Hart, for flashy TV commercials.
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KEVIN HART: Two-hundred dollars instantly, just for betting five bucks (laughter). DraftKings, listen to me. You listen, and you listen good.
LIA NOWER: There was just this blitz of advertisements that particularly appeal to younger people.
MADDEN: Lia Nower directs the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. She says sports betting has become glamorized.
NOWER: Gambling is where cigarettes were in the '40s when we had the Marlboro Man and every actress with a cigarette on one of those extenders.
MADDEN: Unlike drug or alcohol addiction, the federal government doesn't track how many Americans struggle with gambling addiction. We requested data from the Massachusetts Gambling Hotline. We found, the total number of residents in their 20s and 30s who contacted the hotline and were referred to gambling treatment has more than doubled since the state legalized sports betting in 2023. Nearly 400 of them were referred for treatment services during the 2024 fiscal year.
KYLE FAUST: I've been contacted by a lot of young adults that are seeking help right now.
MADDEN: Kyle Faust directs the Massachusetts General Hospital's Digital Addiction and Gambling Treatment Program. The vast majority of his patients struggling with gambling addiction are tied to online sports betting. The mental health toll can be severe.
FAUST: Somebody is going to be more susceptible to depression, different types of anxiety disorders. And if somebody is significantly in debt, they are going to feel trapped and helpless and feel like there's no way out.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: New customers, bet five bucks on the playoffs and get 300 if your bet wins, paid in bonus bets. The crown is yours.
MADDEN: At the end of every sports betting commercial, companies like DraftKings list 1-800 numbers that people can call or text for help with problem gambling. Lori Kalani is DraftKings' chief responsible gaming officer.
LORI KALANI: The vast majority of people who bet on sports do it responsibly as a form of entertainment, although we do appreciate and recognize that it poses a problem for some people.
MADDEN: DraftKings and other sports betting companies offer tools intended to protect people from developing gambling problems. The apps offer self-imposed betting limits and self-exclusion programs where customers can voluntarily ban themselves.
KALANI: Placing a bet is fine, but everybody should do so within a limit that they set for themselves.
MADDEN: Adam, a 33-year-old, tried setting limits.
ADAM: I had sort of convinced myself that I could do it responsibly, so that meant a $10 bet here or there.
MADDEN: Adam told us his story in a public park just outside Boston with some construction nearby.
ADAM: But over time, what happens with this addiction or any others is that's sort of not enough.
MADDEN: Adam says the sports betting apps on his phone let him bet on multiple games at a time. He bet more frequently and with riskier odds to cover his losses. His girlfriend was in the dark.
ADAM: You know, I'd find myself having to, quote-unquote, "going to the bathroom" multiple times, whenever it'd be out. And what I was doing was checking scores and putting in more bets.
MADDEN: One night in 2024, Adam decided to bet everything he could on a Boston Bruins hockey game.
ADAM: I walked into our bedroom where she was sleeping, and I woke her up and I said, I have something to tell you.
MADDEN: Boston had lost.
ADAM: I just gambled our entire savings away. I think that was the worst night of my life, of having to reveal all of that, that I've been hiding for so long. But looking back on it, that was one of the biggest turning points of my life.
MADDEN: With the support of his then-girlfriend and now wife, he found a treatment program. He now attends weekly Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We have Senator John Keenan.
MADDEN: At a Massachusetts State House hearing on gambling bills late last year, Democratic state senator John Keenan told his colleagues he regrets his decision to support sports betting.
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JOHN KEENAN: I want to apologize to those who find themselves in the dark spaces of betting addiction and to those working through recovery and to their families and friends.
MADDEN: Keenan has introduced a bill to rein in sports betting, including a ban on ads during televised games. It's unclear if it'll pass. Massachusetts, like many other states, increasingly relies on taxes from online wagering to fund state coffers. But as the revenue grows, so do the costs. For NPR News, I'm Patrick Madden. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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