It’s not just sports: students face new risks as gambling platforms expand beyond athletics

Grayson Newbourn
Thu, 26 Mar 2026 02:25:47 +0000
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Polymarket is a prediction market app that allows users to bet on athletics, entertainment and current events. Credit: Faith Schneider | Arts & Life Photo Editor

Noelle Meister, a fourth-year in social work, began betting on baseball just under a year ago after receiving a referral for FanDuel from her friend.?

At the time, she had little to no knowledge of the sport.

“It was just starting to be baseball season and that’s when a lot of the promotions were happening, so like, 30 percent profit boost if you bet on this MLB game,” Meister said. “So I just started to track stats [and] everything, and I just grew my knowledge from there.”?

Meister is one of the millions of Ohio residents using betting apps.?

“I feel like I’m probably an outlier in having positive experiences with it,” Meister said.

Meister bets in moderation, only partaking during baseball season, and said she hasn’t seen any negative mental or financial consequences. In fact, she said she’s seen the opposite. But others are placing bets year-round — and not just on sports.

Gambling has crept its way into many more unsuspecting cracks in modern-day society, including entertainment. It might not be obvious, but James Brill, communications manager for Problem Gambling Network of Ohio, said it’s everywhere.

For example, a nine-year-old asks for a blind box from their favorite show for their birthday, not knowing what figurine their parents are paying for, and throwing a fit when it isn’t the one they wanted; a college student spends $10 on Call of Duty points to open a mystery box, fingers crossed that they get the weapon they desire and buying more when they don’t. These are gambling behaviors, Brill said, but may not be perceived as such.?

“Younger and younger people are calling helplines and they’re calling sooner, realizing that they may be struggling, and a lot of it is really based on [the fact that] there’s so much gambling and gamification within video games,” Brill said.

He said mobile games also play a large role in the spread of these behaviors.??

“Even if it’s a mobile game that they’re playing on their mom or dad’s phone, there are a lot of gambling elements in those that are unfortunately training a lot of younger kids to spend real money on things like that,” Brill said. “Their parents may not even think of it as gambling.”

Even apps that seem harmless can promote these behaviors, through companies advertising quick cash for solitaire or free bets after signing up — advertisements that can only be avoided by paying extra to remove them.

Mobile apps offer live betting and instant cash outs, eliminating the need to hit the slots or cash in at the bank, prompting concerns about regulation and an increase in gambling addictions, according to the Addiction Center.?

“I can definitely see how it would negatively affect someone’s mental health,” Meister said. “I do see how they’re very predatory in the way that, first they get you in because you just have to bet $5 and then they’ll give you like, $300 in bonus bets. That’s how people are getting addicted.”

Gambling addictions are significantly less talked about than other addictions, despite the detrimental impact these behaviors can have on someone’s life — habits that Brill said are often more difficult to kick.?

“The thing that is kind of dangerous about gambling is, because there is not a substance involved, it’s very difficult to retrain your brain once you start to develop disordered gambling,” Brill said. “It’s not like you can immediately, you know, stop taking a drug or stop drinking or stop hitting a cigarette. Your brain takes a long time to get to a place where it wasn’t feeling that dopamine hit.”

Brill also said the rate of suicide is higher in gambling addicts than other tracked addictions, with one in five addicts attempting.?

“You think of someone who may be in charge of their family’s finances,” Brill said. “If they are the person struggling with gambling, that can be not just detrimental to them, but to their spouse, their children, people who rely on them, right?”

Along with the rise in sports betting comes prediction market platforms, which offer betting opportunities on simple things that require no prior knowledge, just a strong intuition.?

Polymarket, one of the most notable apps, was broadcast onscreen during the 2026 Golden Globes Awards, tracking who was most likely to win in each category and incentivizing viewers to join in. The awards show had more than 8 million viewers.

Players of free mobile games are likely familiar with the ads for Kalshi, which often appear multiple times throughout gameplay and depict users winning hundreds of dollars for accurately predicting the previous day’s weather.?

“The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) views participation in prediction markets as functionally gambling, which deserve the same protections to be put in place? as sports betting,” Jenna Hotaling, training manager at the NCPG, said in an email. “When gambling and gambling-like activities are framed as fun, social, or even skill-based, people may underestimate the financial, social, and emotional risks. There is a cultural shift happening where betting becomes routine, frictionless, and socially reinforced.”

Hotaling said college students have become increasingly vulnerable to these behaviors.?

“Students are especially at a heightened risk for developing gambling problems, due to brain? development, peer influence, and an increase in risk-taking behaviors,” Hotaling said. “For those seeking ways to establish boundaries, setting time and money limits (check out? Responsibleplay.org) is a great place to start. The important takeaway is to emphasize that? gambling is a form of entertainment; not a way to create income.”

For students, especially recent or upcoming graduates, Hotaling said stress from navigating the job market and current economy can contribute to their risk of developing an addiction.

“Economic pressure can increase gambling and change the motivation behind it,” Hotaling said. “For many graduates, it stops being entertainment and becomes a coping mechanism or a perceived financial strategy, which significantly raises the risk of addiction and long-term harm.”

On March 9, an Ohio federal judge ruled that Kalshi must be legally held to the same standards as sports betting platforms, signaling a change in the way these apps are regulated and used.?

With Ohio being one of the largest gambling states and one in five Ohioans at risk for developing an addiction, Brill said the state has help readily available for those who need it.?

“You know, our organization [PGNO] helps track where all of the people who are clinicians are,” Brill said. “We have a state problem gambling helpline, where you can call in and that can actually get you help. We also operate a telehealth network where if you can’t get to a clinician physically, we can make sure you can get help through the telehealth network. So no matter where you are, you can still access the care that you need.”

The National Problem Gambling Helpline can be reached by phone at 1-800-MY-RESET, by text at 800-GAM or through chat on NPCG’s website. For the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline, call 1-800-589-9966, text “4HOPE” to 741-741 or chat on gamblinghelpohio.org.