For some American University students, sports betting is not just a hobby, but a way of life. As the wins pile up, so do the losses, and a survey of 50 AU sports bettors reveals that not everyone is keeping track.
The average American University student who gambles on sports believes that they are successful in their attempts. According to a survey conducted by students in Robert Klemko’s COMM-326 class, 66 percent of AU bettors claim to be profitable. This is unlikely, as most studies show that just 1 to 2 percent of bettors are making money over time.
One such student is Spencer Rosen, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. Before our conversation, he closed his DraftKings app and made a quip about having to “get one more in”. Rosen has placed over 50 bets on sporting events since the start of 2025 and has been gambling since tenth grade. When asked if he was addicted to sports betting, he replied defiantly, with just two short words: “Hell no.”
Rosen is one of the many American University students who has gambled on sports while in
college.
“I usually place around two to six bets a week. I am definitely down all time, and unfortunately, I do not watch all of the games I bet on,” Rosen said.
In the survey, journalism students asked respondents across campus five questions about their gambling habits. While the frequency of bets and amounts wagered varied among the sample, students generally didn’t view their participation in the practice as addictive.
According to the survey, people who bet fewer than 2.75 times per week have a highest wager average of $55. Bettors who, on average, placed more than 2.75 bets per week, however, wagered nearly three times more money, with an average highest wager amount of $169. On American’s campus, the people who are betting more often are also putting more on the line.
While gambling on sports has always existed in certain parts of the United States, stories like Rosen’s have become much more common since the landmark 2018 Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association decision, when the Supreme Court overturned a law prohibiting the practice outside Nevada. Since this decision, which declared limitations on sports gambling to be unconstitutional, the sports gambling industry has exploded, with 38 states and Washington, D.C. legalizing the practice. The market for sports betting has only continued to grow since 2018, especially online and through apps, as 2024 saw a 23.6 percent rise in bets, with over $147 billion spent across the industry.
Much of the sudden rise in sports betting is rooted in advertising. Sportsbooks — companies that post odds and receive bets — like DraftKings and FanDuel have been spending more than $500 million in advertising to expand their place in the market. University marketing professor Jeffrey Lee points to these groups’ targeted and non-traditional approaches as a reason for their success.
“Beyond ‘traditional’ advertising, there are more and more ads on social media, too. Especially sports fan blogs and websites, where diehard fans typically visit,” Lee said. “Since fans tend to congregate in highly specific physical and digital spaces, the ability to target this audience makes sports betting ads highly effective.”
With growth in accessibility and popularity, sports betting is infiltrating college campuses. The NCAA estimates that almost 60 percent of those aged 18-22 have bet on sports, with 4 percent of individuals gambling daily. Sports betting is increasingly becoming an aspect of college life, and its presence at American University is no different.
At American, just 10 percent of students surveyed viewed themselves as addicted, while many bet upwards of three times per week. The average highest wager of respondents who said that they were addicted is $333, which is nearly five times higher than those who said they were not addicted, whose highest wager averaged at $66. The more AU students bet, the more they seem to spend, and in turn, engage in risky gambling behaviors.
Rosen was not an exception to this trend, as he, too, claimed to not be addicted to sports gambling, despite continuously losing money on DraftKings for over a year.
“I can stop at any time,” Rosen said. “I took a break after the NFL regular season ended and just started up again recently. It’s different, in my opinion, than how you say you get addicted to a drug, for example. I can stop whenever I want.”
Rosen’s friends shared snickering glances with one another when he replied — clearly, they disagreed.
Some American students who were asked to consider whether they were addicted to sports betting said they hadn't considered the possibility.
“No, but I probably am,” School of Public Affairs freshman Ryan Ahlers said. “I would like to think that I can stop at any time.”
This uptick in sports betting’s use and popularity has potential to create possible long-term problems for students. University psychology professor Jonathan Tubman said that college-aged people are more susceptible to habits like gambling.
“Young adults are very attuned to the social rewards of participating in risk behaviors. They are uniquely attuned to or susceptible to specific types of rewarding neurotransmitters in a way that an older person would not be,” Tubman said. “These risk behaviors can be rewarding based on brain structure, reward systems and social factors.”
Tubman said that the rise of sports betting adds a new obstacle to a demographic frequently engaging in dangerous actions
“Risk behaviors tend to be intercorrelated,” Tubman added. “One risk behavior may increase the likelihood that you engage in another one.”
Sports betting can be intertwined with other reckless behaviors, though engaging in a couple of bets casually might not necessarily be a bad thing. According to Tubman, someone betting just a few dollars is fine, but when a person starts to lose control with distress and impairment, then gambling becomes a problem. This is when gambling can connect with other reckless behaviors affecting the lives of students.
Junior CAS student Owen Camferdam has experienced the adverse effects that gambling on sports can bring first hand. Someone very close to Camferdam saw their life entirely transformed due to sports gambling.
“A very close family friend of mine, she’s in her thirties now ... but her fiancé began betting on sports when she was in college, and it has entirely just ruined his life,” Camferdam said.
“He began betting small amounts with his friends on his school’s games. As he kept losing, he would only bet more to make up for the losses,” Camferdam added. “I genuinely do not think there has been a time he has ever been up from gambling.”
Over time, Camferdam described how gambling has only become a larger problem in the couple’s relationship. The bets his family friend’s fiance placed increased from $50-$100 to a staggering $500-$1,000.
“The same way people turn to stronger drugs, he turned to bigger bets,” Camferdam said. “I think now, he’s about $70,000 down all time. He had to tell his fiancé what was going on and they are no longer together. His life is entirely altered because of this thing he got addicted to in college.”
Part of what makes gambling dangerous is chasing losses or the “gambler’s fallacy.” Essentially, if one is losing money, they feel like they have to bet even more the next time.
“It is irrational, because if you’ve lost, that should make you disinclined to repeat that behavior,” University psychology professor David Kearns said. “For people with gambling disorders, when they lose, they’re actually more inclined to do the same behavior that resulted in the losses.”
For some, the only way to get back to “even” is to keep betting, creating a paradox. Someone engaging in this chasing behavior meets the criteria for a gambling disorder, according to Kearns. He worries how the surge in sports betting could correspond with addictions.
“Typically, the rates of addiction track use, so with a lot more people gambling, we should expect an increase in gambling disorders,” Kearns said.
Though still a newer practice, these worries are already being seen. Google searches related to gambling addiction help have increased substantially since states started opening sportsbooks. As the sports betting industry booms, so does addiction.
This survey was conducted by American University students in COMM-326, through in person interviews on campus with other students. Fifty respondents were surveyed to create the sample used in this article. COMM-326 students Ellie Haley, Shannon Kane, Sydney Kelso, Sean Memon, Lindsay Morin, Francisco Rodriguez, Anjoleigh Schindler, Parker Treichel, Avi Paulson, Joey Malaczewski, Charlie Wentworth, Nidhi Bhat, Victoria Rivera, Darby Sherrod, Madelyn Spratt, Lucas Torregrossa and Claire Van Buren contributed to the survey.
This article was edited by Jack Stashower, Penelope Jennings and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Olivia Citarella.
