According to a new study, interest in MLB is lagging among young sports bettors, while seniors still haven’t fully embraced online sports betting sites.
YouGov, a leading market research and data company, released its Gambling Attitudes and Activities Study. The study provides survey data from 23 countries and breaks out much of the US-specific data by age group.
US Young and Old: The Online Divide
The majority of US sports bettors between the ages of 18 and 34 find casinos depressing. Meanwhile, only 25% of US sports bettors 55 years old and older feel that way. So, it’s no surprise that younger sports bettors are far more likely to bet online and have more online accounts.
Only 2% of annual sports bettors age 55+ bet on sports (excluding fantasy and esports) online. Meanwhile, 12% of those 34 and under wager on sports online.
On average, monthly US sports bettors have 3.7 online accounts. But those under 34 have an average of 4.1 online sports betting accounts, while those over 55 have an average of 2.4 accounts.
US Young and Old: The Sports Divide
Older US sports bettors are far more likely to bet on the NFL and MLB than younger sports bettors. Roughly 71% of those over 55 years old bet on the NFL, while only 35% of the 18-to-34-year-old group bets on major league football. However a recent YouGov study revealed that the NFL is gaining traction among younger bettors as legal sports betting expands.
For MLB, 47% of the oldest age group bet on major league baseball, while only 23% of the youngest age group bet on MLB. US soccer, however, overwhelmingly attracts the younger crowd, with 38% of the youngest age group betting on the sport, while only attracting 13% of the older sports bettors.
The NBA seems to appeal to just about everyone. Roughly 40-45% of US sports bettors bet on the NBA, regardless of age.
The age of the bettor isn’t the only place attitudes and behaviors diverge. There is a large difference in results depending on the maturity of a country’s gambling industry.
Mature Gambling Markets: Too Many Ads, Not Enough Protection
People in countries where the gambling sector is older and more developed feel inundated by betting ads. For instance, 65% of Australians and 59% of people in the UK say they “see too much betting advertising.” Meanwhile, only 39% of those in the US report seeing too many ads. And in states where betting is still not fully legal, only 33% of the residents felt inundated with betting ads.
Legalized gambling is still a fledgling industry for much of the United States, where only 29% of the respondents felt the government needed to do more to protect bettors. In countries where gambling has been legal for a long period of time, respondents felt the government wasn’t doing enough to protect gamblers.
Apparently, when a country has more experience with problem gambling, it is more amenable to regulation. For instance, in the UK, 58% of respondents felt the government should do more, while 56% of surveyed Australians wanted better government protection.
