Gen Z investors are more likely than older generations to treat sports betting as part of their long-term financial strategy, according to a Betterment survey.
Key Takeaways
- 52% of Gen Z investors redirected money originally intended for investing toward sports betting over the last year.
- Gen Z investors were the most likely to incorporate sports betting into their financial strategy.
- 1,000 investors participated in Betterment’s online survey earlier this year.
The wealth platform's study found that 26% of Gen Z investors (born between 1997 and 2007 for the purposes of this survey) treat sports betting as a deliberate part of their long-term financial strategy, compared with lower percentages among Millennials (1981-1996), Gen X (1965-1980), and Baby Boomers (pre-1965).
Millennials followed at 14%, while just 6% of Gen X investors and 1% of Baby Boomers said the same.
More than half of Gen Z investors said they had redirected investment funds into sports betting over the last year, while 14% said they did so repeatedly within a month. Betterment noted this is “signaling a notable shift as gambling becomes more widespread in the U.S.,” and that betting is competing for money that might otherwise be used for long-term wealth.
Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account“When a prediction market or sportsbook starts to feel like a retirement strategy, we have a problem,” Betterment CEO Sarah Levy said. “These products are designed to keep people seeking the next quick score, not to help them build toward the next decade.”
Blurred lines
The report also found that 34% of Gen Z investors do not participate in sports betting, compared with 63% across the other three generations combined. In a separate question about where sports betting fits into their financial strategy, 36% of Gen Z participants said they don't wager.
Betterment said 15% use sports betting to accelerate a goal, while 23% separated “fun money” for gambling. More than 10% said sports betting is part of their high-risk investment strategy.
“When the lines between speculative betting and investing blur, the true risk isn’t just about money lost,” said Dan Eagan, VP of Betterment Behavioral Investment. “It’s about the erosion of a coherent financial strategy. We see this blurring often when investors lack clear guardrails.”
The survey was conducted from March 27-April 3 and split evenly across generations. All participants held at least one qualifying financial investment.
Sports betting’s growth
Betterment’s report said U.S. sports betting has grown from a $400-million industry in 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned PASPA and cleared the way for states to legalize wagering, to nearly $17 billion today. There are currently 39 states with online and/or retail sportsbooks, and federally regulated prediction markets are offering sports event contracts in most U.S. jurisdictions.
Gen Z covers ages 19 through 29. Most states require residents to be 21 to create a sports betting account, while popular prediction market platforms such as Kalshi, Robinhood, and Polymarket can be accessed at 18.
Novig, which recently launched a sports-centric prediction market, announced Thursday that it will require all users to be at least 21 to trade.
