Over half of sports bettors who have used a credit card to wager have fallen into debt as a result, according to a survey by Odds Assist.
Reflecting on this finding, Dave Rathmanner, Founder & CEO of Odds Assist, has commented that state regulators and operators should look to ban credit card deposits to help bettors avoid financial and problem gambling issues.
Odds Assist conducted an online survey between August 18 and August 20, asking sports betting questions to a total of 660 US respondents, aged 25 and over, to find out what impact the current economy is having on their wagering. A screening question was used to make sure all respondents currently bet regularly with a legal US sportsbook.
In the survey, one of the questions asked respondents if they’ve ever used a credit card to deposit into their sportsbook account, to which 57.1% replied yes they had.
Those that answered yes were then asked if they’ve gone into debt due to using a credit card to deposit into their sports betting account. Over half (50.7%) replied that they have gone into debt as a result.
The odds comparison website added that, when accounting for respondents who haven’t used a credit card as a deposit method, 28.9% of sports bettors have gone into credit card debt to deposit money into their accounts.
Since operators utilize tools such as data and complex models to create “razor-sharp lines and odds”, Odds Assist notes it makes it “incredibly difficult for average sports bettors to turn a profit over time” and that some bettors may fall into even more credit card debt when they chase losses.
Taking this into account, the odds comparison website claims that if states “truly have their residents’ best interest in mind, they may want to ban credit card deposits”.
Speaking to SBC Americas about the survey results, Rathmanner said: “These results highlight a problematic issue with online gambling that no one is really talking about.
“We all know that there is a risk of developing an addiction to gambling—which can lead to financial issues itself—but the ability to deposit money that you don’t necessarily have via a credit card compounds the issue. A simple solution is for states to simply disallow depositing with a credit card, which Connecticut, Iowa, New York, and Tennessee already have done.”
Odds Asssit’s survey also explored respondents’ thoughts on inflation and the economic recession’s impact on sports betting, as well as if they would wager at an ESPN sportsbook.
