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Sports Betting Usage Rising in Young Adults Sports Betting Usage Rising in Young Adults

Sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings target the 21-35 age group.

By Griffin Della Penna

Sportsbooks like FanDuel have exponentially grown since sports betting was legalized in 2018.
© 2024 Griffin Della Penna

Della Penna:
It wasn’t long ago that fans watched sports simply to cheer for their favorite teams and athletes. But now with sports betting legal and more accessible than ever before, fans want to get in on the action.

Jonathan Kinane is one of many Syracuse University students who picked up gambling as a hobby in hopes to make some money.

Kinane:
All our friends by our senior year were. We had like groupchats, we posted our picks, we compared our picks against one another for certain games.

Della Penna:
Before we get too complex with betting terminology, let’s cover the basics.

Sports betting is when a customer predicts the result of a game before it starts and places money on that outcome to happen. You earn cash with a win or say goodbye to that money if you lose.

Those bets occur based off the odds of that event. The favorite in the matchup is signified with a minus sign before the numbers and a plus represents the underdog who isn’t favored to win.

Falk college sport analytic professor Rodney Paul is here to teach betting 101. Today’s lesson is about the most common type of bet called the spread.

Paul:
If you see a particular basketball team is favored by five and a half points, that’s a pretty simple wager that means if you were betting on the favorite, they would need to win by six or more. On the other hand, if the other team won the game outright or the favorite won by five or less, then the underdog bettor would win.

Della Penna:
The biggest reason for the boom in sports betting over the last five years is because of convenience.

Instead of driving to a physical location at a casino to cash your wins, sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings have made it easier than even to place bets from their mobile apps right on your smartphone.

FanDuel and DraftKings have strategically marketed these apps to the 21-35-year-old audience. Paul says studies show most in that age group have disposable income and are more willing to take a risk for the potential reward.

Paul:
You see so many advertisers target that group because they can go be more freely spending. This is an activity where you can be involved, it’s exciting and they kinda wanna have attachment for a lack of a better word to the game they’re watching.

Della Penna:
For sportsbook users like Kinane, betting is a driving force to watch games for excitement, regardless of how much money is on the line.

Kinane:
It probably won’t sound great coming from me, but like if it’s not a Syracuse game or a pro team I’m a fan of, I don’t know if I could sit through a random sports game without having a bet on it.

Della Penna:
Online sports betting is now live in 38 states across the nation, including North Carolina after Governor Roy Cooper legalized it a few weeks ago.

FanDuel has poured millions into TV advertisements and partnered with pro teams like the Phoenix Suns on their new arena to create even more incentive for potential customers to try sports betting.

Paul:
Everything that you see when it goes to break, you get advertisements at the stadiums.

They’ve got lounges at certain areas in stadiums that are just dedicated for FanDuel or Draft Kings to be able to bet. So, people are just constantly inundated with it.

Della Penna:
That’s everything in your sports betting crash course, class is dismissed.

In Syracuse, Griffin Della Penna, NCC News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) —Less than five years ago sports betting was legalized in the United States, and it continues to grow at a rapid rate throughout the nation. There are currently 38 states that offer sports betting, including New York.

According to the American Gaming Association, the U.S. has spent a quarter of a trillion dollars since online sports betting was legalized in 2018. One of the largest contributors to that total is the 21-35 age demographic. Sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings have targeted this audience with their advertisements and other promotional items.

Rodney Paul is a Syracuse professor at Falk College who specializes in sports analytics. Paul believes it boils down to bettors at this age having more financial freedom and enjoying the risk involved.

“You see so many advertisers target that group because they can go be more freely spending. This is an activity where you can be involved, it’s exciting, and they kinda want to have an attachment to the game they’re watching,” said Paul.

Students over the legal age at Syracuse University have jumped head-first into the betting world. Instead of just watching sports to cheer on your favorite teams or players, betting adds another layer of excitement.

Newhouse graduate student in broadcast and digital journalism Jonathan Kinane downloaded the FanDuel app the day he turned 21. Over the last two years, Kinane has seen a shift in his sport-viewing tendencies because of betting.

“It probably won’t sound great coming from me, but if it’s not a Syracuse game or a pro team I’m a fan of, I don’t know if I could sit through a random sports game without having a bet on it,” said Kinane.

FanDuel and DraftKings have also made sports betting easier than ever with mobile apps that customers can use on their smartphones. This convenient option is a better alternative for this age group instead of driving to a physical location at a casino to place their bets. However, Kinane is concerned if more regulation is not put into place due to the addiction risk in betting.

“I think it can get really interesting in the future if more rules aren’t put into place. It doesn’t look like sports betting is slowing down its growth anytime soon. Even for ESPN to have their own betting service now, I just think that can be a complete conflict of interest. The industry just makes so much money I think they are blinded by what it could mean moving forward,” said Kinane.

If you are struggling with your gambling tendencies, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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