CDC Asked to Examine Youth Exposure to Sports Betting

Concerns around youth exposure to sports betting continue to surface at the federal level. A bipartisan group of US senators is now asking public health officials to take a closer look at how gambling affects minors, especially as legal sports betting expands nationwide.

Lawmakers want better data before the issue escalates further.

Good to Know

• Senators from both parties asked the CDC to study underage gambling
• The request focuses heavily on youth access to sports betting
• Lawmakers cited research linking early gambling to higher addiction risk

A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter last week to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging the agency to formally examine underage gambling. The request asks the CDC to track youth gambling behavior, with a specific focus on sports betting access and long-term harm.

Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Dick Durbin of Illinois led the effort. The letter argues that policymakers and families lack reliable national data on how often minors gamble and how that exposure shapes behavior later in life.

“We ask that the CDC develop and incorporate gambling by children, and in particular sports gambling, to give policymakers and families a better understanding of how, and to what extent, sports gambling is harming our children,” the letter reads.

Early Gambling Linked to Higher Risk

The senators pointed to existing research as a warning sign rather than a complete picture. A 2024 study from C.S. Mott Children Hospital in Michigan found that individuals who began gambling before age 18 were 50 percent more likely to develop gambling problems later in life compared to those who started after turning 18.

Lawmakers described the current research landscape as thin, especially given how quickly sports betting access has expanded across the United States.

“Since the legalization of sports gambling in the United States, there has been limited research examining the extent to which minors are accessing sports betting platforms – whether through illegal access of legitimate platforms or through illegitimate offshore operations,” the senators wrote. “However, the few existing studies are deeply troubling.”

Several additional senators signed the letter, including Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Brian Schatz of Hawaii.

Focus Shifts to Enforcement and Prevention

Beyond research, lawmakers are also pressing for stronger enforcement. Britt recently sent a separate letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging the Department of Justice to increase action against offshore gambling platforms that target minors.

The issue has gained public attention through a mix of policy debate and cultural moments. Earlier this month, actor Ben Affleck told Jimmy Kimmel that his 14-year-old son asked for financial help to pursue sports betting, highlighting how normalized betting conversations have become.

State leaders have also weighed in. New York Governor Kathy Hochul raised the issue during her annual State of the State address, calling for tighter protections aimed at minors.

“Let’s do more to cut off access to online sports gaming, so our kids aren’t ensnared by addiction at a young age,” Hochul said.

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