Alabama families are right to be concerned about the explosion of gambling content targeting children and teenagers online.
U.S. Senator Katie Britt has introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at cracking down on gambling advertisements directed at minors through social media and online platforms. The proposed GAME Act would hold companies accountable for targeting young people with sports betting promotions and addictive gambling content.
The statistics surrounding youth gambling are alarming:
- A 2026 national study found that 36% of boys ages 11–17 reported gambling in the past year.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2026-betting-on-boys-report_final-for-web.pdf - By age 16, over half of boys surveyed said they had gambled in the previous 12 months.
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/half-of-16-year-old-boys-are-gambling-what-can-schools-do/2026/03 - Researchers report adolescents are 2 to 4 times more likely than adults to develop gambling problems.
https://bircheshealth.com/resources/new-research-underage-gambling-betting - A recent Washington Post investigation found gambling references appeared on sports broadcasts every four minutes on average.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2026/05/19/post-ai-analysis-sports-tv-detected-an-excess-gambling-ads/
Children should not be treated like future customers for the gambling industry. Parents are already fighting an uphill battle against harmful online influences, and targeted gambling advertising only adds to the danger.
Sports gambling is still largely illegal in our state. Yet even without full legalization, gambling promotions and betting culture are already saturating social media, sports broadcasts, and online content aimed at young people. If gambling were fully legalized and expanded in Alabama, parents have every reason to expect this advertising pressure would grow dramatically. What is now an online flood could quickly become a constant part of everyday life for Alabama children and teenagers.
Protecting children and strengthening families should always come before corporate profit. We appreciate efforts to address the growing normalization of gambling among America’s youth.