Problem Gambling May Be on the Rise Among Monthly Gamblers in Massachusetts, Online Surveys Suggest

"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."

The survey found increases among monthly gamblers in the online panels in lottery games, sports betting, private wagering, horse racing, bingo and online gambling. This suggests the impact of the pandemic, which deterred gambling behavior, may be diminishing, Volberg says - and also 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."

The latest of the three online surveys was carried out shortly after sports betting began in Massachusetts. 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 became fully operational in Massachusetts. In 2023, 28.3% of monthly gamblers said they did sports betting at least weekly, up from 18.8% in 2022 and 7% in 2013.