{"id":13944,"date":"2025-02-18T03:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T09:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/?p=13944"},"modified":"2025-02-18T03:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T09:18:10","slug":"online-searches-for-gambling-addiction-surge-as-legalized-sports-betting-expands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/2025\/02\/18\/online-searches-for-gambling-addiction-surge-as-legalized-sports-betting-expands\/","title":{"rendered":"Online searches for gambling addiction surge as legalized sports betting expands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Online Searches for Gambling Addiction Surge as Legalized Sports Betting Expands: Study<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Internet searches seeking help for gambling addiction have &quot;increased substantially&quot; as the number of states with legalized sports betting has expanded in recent years, prompting a need for more public health awareness, according to a study released Monday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Study Finds Increase in Online Searches for Gambling Addiction Help<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The findings &quot;suggest that sportsbooks pose a substantial health concern,&quot; researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Bryn Mawr College wrote in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Growing Concern<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The study comes as legalized sports betting has exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that broke up Nevada&#8217;s monopoly on the practice and cleared the way for state-sponsored sports gambling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Increasing Search Volume<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Researchers analyzed monthly Google searches surrounding gambling addiction, such as for &quot;gambling addiction hotline&quot; or &quot;am I a gambling addict,&quot; and found that there were cumulatively 23% more searches nationally than expected since the Supreme Court ruling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Increased Searches in States with Legalized Sports Betting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Researchers also conducted independent evaluations in eight states \u2014 Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia \u2014 where there were &quot;significantly more searches than expected.&quot;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Need for Public Health Awareness<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The researchers concluded that the uptick in online searches signifies the need for public health officials to stay in front of the issue of gambling addiction, including through research and a comprehensive health care response.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Legislation to Address Gambling Addiction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This month, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., reintroduced legislation that would provide the first-ever dedicated federal funding for nationwide gambling addiction treatment, prevention, and research efforts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The study highlights the importance of addressing gambling addiction as a public health concern. As legalized sports betting continues to expand, it is crucial to stay ahead of the issue and provide resources for those affected by gambling addiction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Frequently Asked Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the current state of legalized sports betting in the United States?\n<ul>\n<li>Currently, 38 states and Washington, D.C. allow for sports betting in some form, whether at a physical establishment or online.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>How did the study find the number of online searches for gambling addiction help?\n<ul>\n<li>The study found a 23% increase in online searches nationally since the Supreme Court ruling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>What is being done to address gambling addiction?\n<ul>\n<li>Legislation has been reintroduced to provide dedicated federal funding for nationwide gambling addiction treatment, prevention, and research efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Online Searches for Gambling Addiction Surge as Legalized Sports Betting Expands: Study Internet searches seeking help for gambling addiction have &quot;increased substantially&quot; as the number of states with legalized sports betting has expanded in recent years, prompting a need for more public health awareness, according to a study released Monday. Study Finds Increase in Online [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/media.nbcchicago.com\/2025\/02\/GettyImages-2187898735-e1739823681281.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=1200%2C675&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13944"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13946,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13944\/revisions\/13946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}