The rising popularity of online betting services, often marketed to male consumers via glitzy commercials, celebrity spokesmen, and social media ads, raises the odds that your children, or other young relatives, have already been exposed to such platforms.
If you have considered discussing the financial risks of betting apps and websites with your children, you might want to initiate the conversation sooner rather than later, according to financial advisors.
Young people don't just run the risk of losing money, they may wrongly begin to associate their betting with investing because of the language used by these platforms, says Clifford Cornell, a financial advisor at Bone Fide Wealth.
"'I bought five Knicks contracts,' sounds a little more sophisticated...like I'm buying into the Knicks," rather than betting on the outcome of an NBA game, Cornell says. "There is this underlying tone in the marketing where it sounds like an actively traded investment, but it's pure speculation."
There are now multiple avenues for gambling online, including online sportsbooks FanDuel and DraftKings, and prediction markets such as Kalshi, which allow users to buy and sell contracts on future events, be they sports games, crypto markets, politics, or the weather.
For young people, having quick access to online betting can normalize gambling early on, advisors say. "It can quickly turn from a casual hobby into a full-blown addiction," Cornell says.
Valerie Rivera, financial planner and founder of FirstGen Wealth, recently spoke at an event where around 100 college freshmen were in attendance. While talking about common money mistakes, she asked the young attendees to raise their hand if they had used popular sportsbooks.
Around half of the freshmen indicated they had, Rivera says, noting "it was only guys who raised their hands," in the room of male and female students.
"There were chuckles, like I called out something they didn't expect me to," Rivera says. A couple of the students who raised their hands, even pulled out their phones to jokingly show Rivera the betting apps they were using. "They're all under 21," she says.
"We've all seen gambling around us, but having that level of access on your phone has made it so much more prevalent," Rivera says, noting the growing draw for younger people.
Groups who are more likely to bet on sports, include younger adults aged 18 to 29, men, and Black and Hispanic adults, a 2025 Pew Research Center survey of 9,916 U.S. adults found. Overall, one in 10 U.S. adults said they had placed a sports bet online in the past year, according to the survey.
"In our new survey, 63% of adults say they've heard or read a lot or a little about the fact that sports betting is now legal in much of the U.S.," the Pew report said, referencing the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that set the stage for the legalization of commercial sports betting in many states. "The increase in public awareness comes as betting-related advertisements have become common during sports broadcasts," the report said.
Celebrity endorsements. Bets on anything. Celebrities have quickly become the faces of an online betting wave, serving as spokesmen for betting platforms and appearing in advertisements. In June, Academy Award-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet, 30, starred in an ad campaign for Kalshi. In recent years, NBA star LeBron James and comedian Kevin Hart also appeared together in a commercial for DraftKings.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, also reportedly wants the company to enter the space with its own predictions market app. Zuckerberg recently directed a small team at Meta to create an app similar to Polymarket and Kalshi, according to a report by the New York Times.
For parents of young adults, and even tweens, "You might not think to include online gambling in an introduction to creating good financial habits," but you should, Rivera says.
"As parents, normalize the question, 'Do you do any online betting?'" Rivera says. "If you have a teen at home, the chances are they've been marketed to."
New research suggests that gambling has become prevalent among even adolescent boys. In fact, more than one-third of young males have gambled before the age of 18, a January report by Common Sense Media found. The survey of more than 1,000 U.S. boys ages 11 to 17, revealed that nearly one-third of 11-year-olds had gambled in the past year, while almost half of 17-year-olds had.
Marci Bair, president and founder of Bair Financial Planning, says parents are now "raising the first generation that carries a casino in their pocket."
"As a financial planner, I don't just worry about investment mistakes -- I worry about financial habits," Bair says. "The danger isn't just that young people lose money. It's that they learn the wrong lessons about how money is made. Wealth is usually built slowly through discipline. Gambling tells them wealth comes from being right one more time."
Children see games, not gambling. Although there are minimum age restrictions for sports betting and prediction market apps, ubiquitous childhood activities such as videogames can blur the lines between gaming and gambling for children, says Uziel Gomez, a certified financial planner and founder of Primeros Financial.
Gomez, 28, says he was once a teen who loved gaming and spent a considerable amount of money on it. Between the ages of around 14 and 17, Gomez says he and his brothers spent hundreds of dollars on "play-to-win" purchases that gave him advantages in videogames.
"I'd go to 7-Eleven, buy a gaming card and spend with the hopes of winning," Gomez says. "I now see that as gambling, although I didn't see it that way back then...In total, we spent maybe close to $1,000 over the period of time that we played that videogame."
With social media influencers and celebrities promoting online betting, Gomez believes younger users could get exposed to the world of gambling even earlier. "I was talking to my partner's children, and they see ads in between YouTube videos or while on TikTok, with influencers advertising these online betting apps," he says. "They are teenagers, 16 and 14."
Gomez recommends that adults check the content their children are consuming, because children are likely to come across ads or promotions for these platforms even if they aren't looking for them.
"Start it off by seeing what kind of content they are viewing, and being curious and asking questions. Children are prone to not listen to you if you aren't being curious and stepping into their shoes first," he says.
"It used to be that you had to pull a lever on a slot machine, or go in person to a casino or store, to gamble," he says. "Now you can just go online, or on an app, and place a bet. And before, children may not have understood the rules of these traditional gambling games," but now betting and predictions platforms have simplified things, Gomez adds.
"I've seen online games that may be perceived as just fun, like Tic Tac Toe, where it automatically places a bet for you," says. "And it could be seen as easy money. My girlfriend's son said that: 'It's quick and easy money.'"
Write to advisor.editors@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 10, 2026 14:27 ET (18:27 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments