Online Sports Betting: A Social Work Issue

As of March 11, 2024, betting on sports online is legal in North Carolina. The legislature passed a new law in June 2023 to legalize sports wagers last year, tasking the North Carolina Lottery Commission with getting it all going. The commission approved licenses for eight companies to start taking bets online Monday. The law makes betting legal on all professional, collegiate and amateur sports, with the exception of youth sports. The legislation puts the responsibility for overseeing sports wagering on the North Carolina Lottery Commission. The commission is allowed to give licenses to up to 12 companies to take sports bets. The bill also legalizes betting on horse races and includes provisions for companies to set up physical sportsbooks. 

What social workers should know: Historically, problem gambling typically surges shortly after sanctioned sportsbooks go live.

Preliminary results from a survey of 1,661 students from 12 University of North Carolina System campuses show that 58 percent of those they polled had gambled over the past year. Thirteen percent of those respondents reported gambling at least monthly.

The findings also showed that male students gambled more than their female peers. Athletes in the mix gambled slightly more frequently than non-athletes.

Education

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services NC Problem Gambling Program launched the "More Than A Game" website with resources and training for individuals, family members and clinicians. In addition to the programs aimed at younger people, the NC Problem Gambling Program has focused on ensuring that clinicians are well trained to recognize sports gambling problems and looking to research for data-driven solutions.

Learn more here: https://morethanagame.nc.gov/