More than 50,000 minors tried to open sports betting accounts in a single hour before this year’s Super Bowl, according to the age-verification company tasked with stopping them.
As Americans legally wagered an estimated $1.76 billion to $1.8 billion on the Feb. 8 game, identity systems at major sportsbooks were blocking a surge of underage attempts — a spike company officials described as unprecedented.
Attempts to manipulate birthdates or other age data ran at roughly three times the normal rate during the spike, the company said.
“It was stunning. They were scaling the walls,” Rivka Gewirtz Little, Socure’s chief growth officer, told USA TODAY.
The episode became a flashpoint in a broader debate over youth exposure to gambling, as regulators and addiction specialists warn that betting is becoming more visible to teens through social media influencers, prediction-market platforms, and app-based investing tools.
Teens in the betting market
A USA TODAY investigation published in early February found that regulated sportsbooks across multiple states report thousands of suspected underage betting incidents every year.
The minors often gain access using parents’ accounts, shared devices, stolen identity information, or falsified birthdates, according to state regulator filings reviewed by the newspaper.
The Casino Control Commission told USA TODAY that in Ohio alone, DraftKings reported roughly $2.78 million in suspected underage wagers since sports betting launched there in 2023. Filings from regulators in Arizona, Massachusetts, and other states show similar patterns of attempted or completed underage wagering before detection and account shutdowns.
Youth participation in gambling remains a concern for public health advocates.
A nationwide survey found that 36% of adolescent boys said they had gambled in the past year, with boys ages 16 to 17 reporting the highest participation rates. An October 2025 factsheet from the National Council on Problem Gambling found that while overall youth gambling rates have fluctuated, online and sports betting formats are growing fastest among those under 18.
Gambling’s social media megaphone
High-profile streamers and online creators — many with large young male audiences — promote crypto casinos and betting through sponsored livestreams, promotional codes, and real-time gambling sessions. Reported partnership deals for top creators have reached into the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars, according to industry reports.
Attorneys involved in underage gambling lawsuits argue that such content can normalize betting among minors, even when promotions are limited to users 21 and older.
Researchers say that constant digital exposure can normalize betting behavior for adolescents. A study commissioned by the UK-based non-profit GambleAware found that 87% of youth ages 11 to 17 reported seeing gambling-related content online. More than one in four said celebrity or influencer promotions made them more likely to gamble. Among boys ages 16 to 17, 36% reported gambling after such exposure.
U.S. addiction treatment providers report similar trends. Counselors say many teenagers describe first encountering sports betting or online casino content through TikTok, YouTube, or Twitch streams that frame wagering as entertainment or a form of savvy investing rather than gambling.
Adolescents and risk perception
The appeal of rapid, high-reward betting and trading may be especially potent for teenage boys, whose risk-taking impulses tend to outpace long-term judgment during key stages of brain development.
What was once confined to casinos or trading desks is now embedded in social media feeds. On TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, creators promote trading courses, betting systems and subscription “signals,” many promising users they can earn substantial income with minimal time or experience.
This framing is significant to addiction specialists, who say that when wagering and rapid trading are packaged as entrepreneurship or savvy investing, adolescents may not even perceive them as gambling at all.
The shift to app-based wagering also allows losses to accumulate more quickly than in traditional gambling settings.
Financial anxiety among younger generations — including concerns about housing affordability and income growth — may amplify the appeal of rapid-gain narratives.
An ‘alarming rise’
The rapid expansion of betting and high-frequency trading platforms has been described as a broader “financialization” of everyday life, with wagering embedded in entertainment and social media.
Youth problem gambling rates are estimated at roughly 4% to 5%, compared with about 1% among adults, according to data cited by the National Council on Problem Gambling. Treatment providers report that the average age of onset appears to be getting younger, with many young clients first experimenting through video game–related “skins” betting before moving to real-money sports betting or trading apps.
In January 2026, several U.S. senators urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study what they called an “alarming rise” in youth gambling.