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State of Play’s TL;DR
- More women are becoming problem gamblers as the industry continues to grow.
- Thirty-five percent of online sports bettors are now women, according to the American Gaming Association.
As online gambling expands across the US, women are making up a growing share of problem gambling cases. New data points to rising participation, while Pennsylvania hotline trends and litigation against major operators underscore the risks.
Women now account for a larger portion of gambling addiction cases, according to reporting highlighted by Gambling News, which tied the shift to the continued growth of online sports betting and online casino gaming.
Both participation data and treatment trends are signs that the issue is becoming harder for operators and regulators to ignore.
Women’s share of online betting is rising
The American Gaming Association reported that women now make up 35% of online sports bettors, up from 26% in 2022. A Bloomberg Law analysis showed that women represented roughly one-quarter of bankruptcy filings last year that named major online sportsbooks as creditors.
Treatment providers are seeing similar changes.
Jennifer Levitt, a Philadelphia-area therapist who specializes in gambling addiction, said women now make up about one-third of her caseload, up from just a few years ago.
Gambling News also referenced the so-called “telescoping effect,” a pattern in which women who begin gambling later in life may move more quickly into disordered gambling than men.
Pennsylvania hotline data and a lawsuit raise pressure on operators
In Pennsylvania, the Council on Compulsive Gambling said women ages 45 to 54 generate the highest volume of calls to the state’s problem gambling hotline. Executive Director Josh Ercole said the problems being reported have also shifted toward online slots rather than traditional casino machines.
A lawsuit filed in Philadelphia against FanDuel and DraftKings alleges the companies used microbets, promotions, push notifications, and VIP perks to keep users with existing addictions engaged. One example is the unauthorized personalized video from Phillies star Bryce Harper.
For operators, the story adds to the case that responsible gambling tools may need to reflect different user patterns as online gambling audiences broaden. For regulators, hotline data, treatment trends, and litigation claims could bring added scrutiny to how online products are marketed and how retention tactics are used.
Based on reporting by Stefan Velikov for Gambling News.
