Problem Gambling in Massachusetts Up Among Monthly Gamblers

According to three online gambling surveys conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, monthly gamblers in Massachusetts reported an increase in problem gambling.

Problem Gambling in Massachusetts climbed from 12.7% in 2014 to 25.6% in 2023, according to the surveys

The online surveys – conducted in 2014, 2022 and 2023 – provided the Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA) research team a sample size of changing behaviors and attitudes over time among regular gamblers, defined as those who gamble monthly or more frequently.

Gambling behavior expert Rachel Volberg, SEIGMA’s principal investigator and research professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, recently reported the findings to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC).

Among monthly gamblers in the online surveys, those experiencing a gambling addiction climbed from 12.7% in 2014 to 20.9% in 2022 to 25.6% in 2023. This compares to a 2% prevalence of problem gambling that remained steady in general population surveys conducted before and after casinos were introduced in Massachusetts.

“It’s pretty startling, to be honest,” Volberg says. “While the online panels were not representative of the population, they were very informative in regards to people with gambling difficulties. It’s very helpful from a surveillance and monitoring perspective.”

Online surveys revealed increases among monthly gamblers in bingo, horse racing, lottery games, etc.

Furthermore, the three online surveys were conducted shortly after sports betting launched in Massachusetts.

The survey revealed increases among monthly gamblers in the online panels in bingo, horse racing, lottery games, online gambling, private wagering, and sports betting. Additionally, this suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic deterred gambling behavior.

Volberg also said that the pandemic “probably suppressed the gambling behavior of people who were gambling recreationally more than the behavior of people who were at risk for a gambling problem.”

According to the online surveys, monthly gamblers who said they did not participate in sports betting in the previous 12 months dropped from 78.2% in 2014 to 45.7% in 2023, the year that legal sports betting officially launched in the Bay State.

In 2023, 28.3% of monthly gamblers said they placed sports wagers at least weekly, up from 18.8% in 2022 and 7% in 2013.

Advertising, news coverage of sports betting to blame?

Moreover, Volberg believes advertising and news coverage of the legalization of sports betting in Massachusetts likely affected monthly gamblers.

“I think it has led people who are already vulnerable to engage or re-engage with this particular type of gambling that’s now getting lots of media attention,” she says.

Volberg says that while online panels are not representative of the population, it is reasonable to assume that the changes in behavior of the monthly gamblers in the online panels are likely to reflect changes in the general population.

“I think it’s definitely a cause for concern about what the population impacts of sports betting are going to be because these indicators from the monthly gamblers in the online panel are not going in a direction that says there’s going to be less gambling harm in Massachusetts in the future.”

Massachusetts lawmakers legalized sports betting in August 2022. This came four years after the Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports betting in 2018. Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks began operations in January 2023. Online betting began in March 2023.