Gambling addiction in the United States is getting more and more serious as calls to get the situation under control grow louder. The Guardian spoke with experts who highlighted America’s concerns about the young people exposed to harm.

Gambling organizations across the US have noticed a concerning number of teen and young adult patients seeking help.

New Jersey, which has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to gambling, is currently dealing with an influx of harmed young patients. According to the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, the number of requests for support has more than doubled since 2018. This was also echoed by UCLA, which has been evaluating the trend.

Many believe that the convenience mobile gambling provides has made it very appealing to young people Brad Ruderman, of the Beit T’Shuvah treatment center in Los Angeles noted that this would be the first generation to grow with mobile gambling.

Keith Whyte, the National Council on Problem Gambling’s executive director, asked a room of 40 17-year-old boys in Virginia how many had sports betting apps on their phones. Thirty-six boys admitted to having one, further supporting T’Shuvah’s claim.

Experts believe that young people, whose brains are still developing, might be much more susceptible to gambling’s tricks of attracting customers.

Arnie Wexler, a counselor, fears that America might be “killing its youth.”

The Situation Is Bad But Not Hopeless

Rick Benson, the founder of the Algamus treatment facility in Goodyear, Arizona, believes that America might be headed into a “gambling addiction quagmire if not crisis.” He said that the nonstop betting opportunities provided by the local mobile operators are simply too convenient.

Another aspect is peer and commercial pressure, Shekhar Saxena, ex-director at the WHO, believes. He pointed out that younger people easily influence one another, exacerbating the problem.

For reference, in 2018 only 11.5% of the people who contacted New Jersey’s gambling support services admitted they were under 25. During the first 10 months of 2023, this number had increased to 19.6%.

Luckily, the younger generation is more likely to seek help, according to UCLA’s co-director of the gambling studies program, Timothy Fong. The stigma among them is not so serious suggesting that there might be hope for solving the issue.

The Guardian also spoke with Amanda Blackford, director of operations and problem gambling services at the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Commenting on the rising harm rates that followed the recent legalization of sports betting, Blackford said that problem gambling will always exist, so it is important to help as many people as possible.

Many Believe Tougher Regulations Are Needed

In the meantime, calls to better regulate the sports betting sector have increased. While many states now offer gambling, some believe that few of them are sufficiently engaged in the protection of customers.

Felicia Grondin, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling, is one of the many supporters of restrictions on gambling ads. Ads are already talked about a lot in other modern markets as many believe that exposure leads to more harm.

WHO’s Saxena, on the other hand, said that operators themselves should not exploit their consumers’ vulnerabilities. Saxena thinks that allowing the customers to choose how often and how much to wager is not enough.

The industry, however, argues that an overwhelming majority of consumers wager safely. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), legal operators offer a number of important safeguards to keep players safe.

Overregulation, on the other hand, risks channeling people toward the black market, which offers few, if any, of these safety measures. The AGA urged for further research before proceeding with overregulation.

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Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto was recently suspended from the National Hockey League because of his involvement in sports betting. Prohibited from participating in the next 41 games, the player has now sparked concerns about the prevalence of wagering.

The Canadian Press spoke with experts on the matter. According to gambling researchers, young athletes are very vulnerable to the temptation of betting.

The American Hockey League is currently discussing whether changes to its gambling-related policies are needed. The Canadian Hockey League, in the meantime, created a new sports betting policy prior to the start of the current season.

The CHL’s new athlete program includes gambling education that helps athletes realize the dangers of gambling and provides them with knowledge of the risks they take when placing a wager.

The NHL Should Protect Younger Athletes

Professor David Hodgins from the University of Calgary, who is a member of the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, believes that operators’ aggressive advertisement makes it impossible not to have such cases. Hodgins said that it is “inevitable” that some athletes would be enticed to involve themselves with gambling.

The professor advised the NHL to not ignore the issue and to recognize the dangers of gambling addiction.

Andrew Kim, another University of Calgary professor, said that leagues need to realize the dangers that gambling poses to young people. He pointed out that younger adults are usually at much greater risk of developing addictive tendencies. Unfortunately, not all problem players exhibit clear signs of their addiction, Kim added.

Kim added that young NHL players might be unhappy to be prohibited from gambling while fans the same age as day are allowed to be exposed to gambling and bet on games. The professor said that the situation is “intertwined” and very complex.

Kim concluded that many young athletes turn to betting because of false security in their knowledge of the sport. He said that many players believe that they are experts in predicting outcomes and analyzing games, just because they are playing professionally. Kim said that this might be true for some but pointed out that gambling, by design, makes it more likely to lose than win.

In the meantime, the NFL recently introduced changes to its gambling policies coming shortly after a gambling scandal involving young Iowan athletes. Some players in that case were even accused of “tampering with records,” although lawyers refuted these claims as ludicrous. One legal representative noted that the state shouldn’t be so surprised when young athletes demonstrate interest in betting.

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The KSA Decided to Split the Role Between Two Chairpersons

The reason why Kansspelautoriteit decided to split the chairperson position between two people was due to the increase recorded in the number of sanction decisions. As a consequence, KSA also recorded a larger number of objection procedures.

Chairman René Jansen expressed content for having found “two worthy successors for J.M.E. Feije,” while also acknowledging her efforts and thanking her for them. Jansen also added that the administrative body founded in 2012 by the industry with the help of gambling levies considered itself “very fortunate” to be joined by the two knowledgeable and well-experienced chairpersons who will tackle their objection procedures in the future.

Both Chairpersons to Serve for Three Years

The body that is governed by a board of directors also announced that Koppe and van Oers will each be serving a three-year term. Koppe is currently a lecturer in constitutional and administrative law at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, a position she has occupied since August 2016. Van Oers is the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets’ (ACM) director of legal affairs, a position she has occupied for more than a decade. 

For close to seven years between 1990 and 1997, Van Oers was also director of the legal department and team manager for The Netherlands’ Competition Authority which merged into ACM on April 1, 2013. Van Oers was also a lawyer for De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek. 

KSA’s Strategy for 2020-2024

While preserving an objective view of gambling, the authority considers it is essential for the activity to be safe and fair. Their main purpose is to nurture a world “where gambling services are reliable, operators are transparent and players are protected.”

As a declared mission, the KSA wishes to make sure that consumers can play safely. To do this, they will continue to protect consumers, prevent gambling addiction, and fight off illegal and criminal practices. 

One of their latest actions targeted two lottery operators, Postcode Loterij and VriendenLoterij, for providing online games that they were not legally allowed to offer according to their current lottery license statuses. The two operators are now facing fines of up €1 million ($1.07 million) provided they do not put a stop to their activities. 

Before that, the KSA issued another fine worth €45,000 ($48,000) to Merkur Casino for enabling a player that had used the self-exclusion options to enter the premises in Almere.

In March, the authority imposed a €4,4 million ($4.7 million) financial penalty against Gammix Limited for providing services to customers in the Netherlands without a license.

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With predictions of it becoming one of the largest online gaming marketplaces in the next three years, we spoke to Antonino Barra (AB), Head of Sales at Altenar, John-Paul Rowland (JPR), VP Europe, Asia & Americas at BetGames and Nadiya Attard (NA), CCO at Relax Gaming about the impact Ontario will generate.

What has made you decide to launch in the Ontario market? 

Antonino Barra (AB): Prior to the legalisation of single-game betting, it was estimated that Ontarians spent close to $1 billion per year on internet gambling. With more possibilities than ever before owing to regulatory reforms, that figure is certainly expected to rise.

What makes the market particularly interesting is that Ontario’s iGaming business is expected to produce $1.5 billion in revenue by 2026, making it one of the largest online gaming marketplaces in North America. Furthermore, new rules have made the sector incredibly competitive, with an annual tax rate of roughly 20%, one of the lowest in the world, making it very appealing to online gambling businesses.

In conclusion, if we consider that the country’s gambling community totals something like 20 million active gamers – being home to more than one-third of Canada’s population – Ontario can be considered the cornerstone of the Canadian market. So I have no doubt that it’s a really interesting GEO to foresee operations for any bookmaker out there.

John-Paul Rowland (JPR): We’re not live there yet, but we’ve got big plans! With Twain Sport, we’re expecting to launch with multiple tier-one partners in April this year. So, watch this space.

The first factor was its host of big-name operator brands. In effect by launching there, we’re covering 60% of the Canadian betting market. Secondly, and this one that really should be commended, the Ontario regulator (which is the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario), has an incredibly friendly regulatory framework for European companies looking to enter the Canadian market, which makes it a very attractive proposition and conducive for good business.

With that of course is also our ethos towards our big-brand partners. At the end of the day, Twain Sport offers a one-of-kind live sports betting experience with fast-paced action, so wherever our partners see the potential to engage and entertain, we’ll go with them.

Nadiya Attard (NA): With sights set on Ontario from the beginning, Relax was quick to act and amongst the first to enter the market back in April 2022. The Canadian jurisdiction has traditionally been a very strong market so we were keen to take advantage of the flexible Ontario regulation process. As with every new market, they experienced some teething issues but they were overcome in due time. Now the market is growing and growing quickly.

How does the market in Ontario differ from others you have a foothold in?

JPR: Ontario is a unique market with fantastic potential. For a start, you’ve got all the major brands there from US casinos, including Caesars, BetMGM and WynnBet, as well as the Gods of fantasy sports, FanDuel and DraftKings, which not only makes it very diverse – but also a very different market from Europe, LatAm or Africa, which are key markets for us.

In line with that, is the composition of the audience and preferences towards sport. With NFL, NBA and NHL taking up the majority of sports spend, this makes it a unique place that holds few parallels to all our other major global locations. As already mentioned, the demographics and audience are also very different, with a real demand for fast-action entertainment, so it’s very exciting for us.  

AB: Unlike many other markets and GEOs, gaming in Canada has expanded unabated by the government for decades even if a regulatory framework was not yet clearly defined. This helped operators of different tiers to pioneer the market before its full regulation in 2022 and achieve a solid foothold within the province. 

Now that it’s regulated, Ontario has created a one-of-a-kind market. Rather than just issuing licences to operators, the Ontario government established iGaming Ontario, which grants market access in a novel manner. Operators are provided access to Ontario’s iGaming industry as private contractors operating on behalf of the government entity through iGaming Ontario. This implies that each operator collaborates with iGO, allowing both sides to have a say in the development of the iGaming industry.

Is there anything that you would change about the current regulation within the Ontario market?