A staggering 99 out of 100 people who participate in sports gambling lose money over the long term. Yet more than half of America’s youngest investors are funneling their investment dollars straight into sportsbooks, according to a troubling new survey.
The findings paint a grim picture of financial decision-making among Generation Z. Fifty-two percent of Gen Z investors admitted they redirected investment money into sports betting over the past year, and more than a quarter treat gambling as an ongoing part of their financial plans.
“So many young people [are] investing and really losing enormous sums of money on what is ultimately a con,” said Les Bernal, national director of Stop Predatory Gambling, in an interview on “Washington Watch.” He warned that over the course of their lifetimes, this behavior is “going to cause them, you know, irreparable financial harm.”
The generational divide is stark. While 52% of Gen Zers redirected investment funds to sports betting, only 31% of millennials did the same. The numbers drop sharply from there: just 10% of Gen Xers and a mere 4% of baby boomers reported similar behavior.
The pattern holds when it comes to treating gambling as a legitimate financial strategy. Twenty-six percent of Gen Z investors consider sports betting part of their ongoing financial plan, compared to 14% of millennials, 6% of Gen Xers, and only 1% of boomers.
Financial advisory company Betterment published the results last Wednesday after conducting an online poll of 1,000 U.S. retail investors across four generations. While online surveys provide less rigorous results than randomly generated samples, the data offers a revealing snapshot of how young Americans approach money.
Only one-third of Gen Z investors said they stayed away from sports betting entirely. Among those who do bet, 23% kept the money separate as “fun money,” 15% claimed they used it “to accelerate a goal,” and 11% viewed it as a “high-risk strategy.”
The numbers reveal something deeper. At least 11% of Gen Z investors both redirected investment money to sports betting and dismissed it as simply “fun money.” That’s real retirement savings treated like chips at a casino.
Why are young adults so willing to blur the line between investing and gambling? The survey points to one factor: Gen Zers rely far less on their own research and judgment when making financial decisions. Only 40% trust their own analysis, compared to 69% of boomers and 56% of investors overall.
History matters too. The survey defined Generation Z as those born between 1997 and 2007. These young adults don’t remember 9/11 or the economic stability that preceded it. They came of age during the Great Recession, watching their parents struggle through a sluggish economy marked by high government spending and uncertain markets. That breeds skepticism toward traditional investment.
Then there’s the smartphone factor.
“You have an entire generation of young people who have grown up on their phones,” Bernal explained. “They’ve grown up on computers, playing video games.” He noted that most parents have no idea that many video games include gambling-like mechanics built directly into the experience. Young adults are comfortable conducting their lives on their phones, and that’s exactly where most sports betting takes place.
