Sports activities betting is more and more competing with conventional investing for youthful People’ consideration, with greater than 1 / 4 of Gen Z traders saying they see playing on sports activities as a part of their long-term monetary technique, in keeping with a survey by private finance platform Betterment.
About 26% of Gen Z traders born between 1997 and 2007 mentioned they deal with sports activities betting as a deliberate, ongoing element of their monetary plans, in keeping with a web-based survey of 1,000 US retail traders revealed Wednesday. That’s in contrast with about 14% of millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), 6% of Gen X (born 1965 to 1980) and 1% of child boomers (born earlier than 1965).
Greater than half of younger traders mentioned that they had redirected cash initially earmarked for investing into sports activities betting over the previous yr, with 14% saying they accomplish that a number of instances a month. Solely about one-third of Gen Z respondents mentioned they don’t take part in sports activities betting in any respect, in contrast with 63% of traders throughout the 4 generations surveyed.
The outcomes underscore how the speedy enlargement of authorized sports activities betting and prediction markets is reshaping the methods youthful adults take into consideration constructing wealth, more and more competing for discretionary {dollars} which may in any other case stream into retirement accounts or brokerage portfolios.
“When a prediction market or sportsbook begins to really feel like a retirement technique, we’ve an issue,” mentioned Betterment Chief Government Officer Sarah Levy in an announcement. “These merchandise are designed to maintain folks searching for the following fast rating, to not assist them construct towards the following decade.”
Robert Kosciuk, a 32 year-old from Huntington, New York, has a Robinhood account for inventory buying and selling however this yr has put extra power into betting. He says he applies the logic of investing to sports activities betting. He approaches it with warning fairly than emotion, does analysis earlier than putting bets and he solely wagers $100 at a time.
He understands that he’s playing. “I believe I’m simply smarter about it,” he mentioned. “I’m not simply doing it as a passion.”
This yr, he’s made roughly $2,500 on bets.
“I booked an entire trip because of the Carolina Hurricanes this yr, which sounds insane to say out loud,” Kosciuk mentioned.
Lately, state-regulated sports activities playing within the US has expanded into an virtually $17 billion business, whereas the expansion of prediction markets has additionally been explosive. Robinhood Markets Inc., which constructed its model round making inventory buying and selling accessible to youthful traders, launched prediction markets inside its app in 2025 and mentioned the enterprise has turn into the agency’s fastest-growing unit within the firm’s historical past.
“Sports activities betting is a type of leisure, not an funding or a method for constructing wealth,” mentioned Joe Maloney, the president of the Sports activities Betting Alliance, whose members embrace FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, guess365 and betMGM. “Adults who select to guess ought to accomplish that responsibly, inside a predetermined leisure finances and by no means with cash wanted for financial savings or important bills.”
As housing affordability worsens and dwelling prices proceed to rise, conventional wealth-building milestones resembling shopping for a house really feel extra elusive for lots of youthful adults. Many who really feel financially behind wish to high-risk, speculative areas resembling prediction markets, sports activities betting and crypto to achieve their monetary targets quicker, in keeping with a Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress examine this yr.
Relating to shaping a monetary technique, the Betterment survey discovered that 56% of traders depend on their very own analysis and judgement — greater than on some other single supply of steering. Self-reliance climbed from 40% amongst Gen Z respondents to 69% amongst boomers.
About one in three individuals within the Betterment survey mentioned they trusted synthetic intelligence for monetary recommendation. Of these, 53% mentioned AI has influenced a monetary determination they in any other case wouldn’t have made, together with 48% of all Gen Z respondents.