“Have you noticed all these sports betting ads this year?” I asked my family as we waited for the Super Bowl halftime show. “That means a lot of people are losing a lot of money.” 

“Yeah,” my teenager replied. “But someone else is winning a lot of money…” 

I took in a sharp breath, resisting the urge to deliver a lecture about the odds of coming out ahead and the very real risks of online sports betting.

“…FanDuel,” my son concluded, and then waited, clearly pleased with himself. 

I exhaled and laughed, acknowledging that he had successfully baited me into full activation. 

“Seriously, though,” I followed up. “What do you think about all these ads?” 

The Changing Face of Gambling

Super Bowl ads promoting sports betting as a normal, fun, and easy way to join the game were hard to miss this year, even though the NFL limited the number of ads to six. That surge isn’t surprising after the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision allowing states to legalize online sports betting. But a new Common Sense Media report, Betting on Boys: Understanding Gambling Among Adolescent Boys, reminds us that these ads mirror a growing culture of gambling online.

Gambling conjures up images of adults playing cards around a smoky table, pulling a slot machine lever, or scratching off a lottery ticket. Yet today’s gambling experiences include online sports betting, in-game betting, online poker, and digital lottery apps. They are embedded in video games and appear across social media. Sometimes online gambling looks and feels familiar, such as online poker. Other times, it’s harder to spot. For example, paying for the random chance to get an upgraded set of weapons in a video game. Increasingly, gambling is exciting, social, and everywhere.

Skin Cases, Loot Boxes, and the Gamblification of Gaming

“It’s all he wants to spend his money on,” a parent shared with me recently. “I’m fine with him playing Roblox but now he is totally preoccupied by the loot boxes. It ends up involving a lot of money.”

“It’s so tricky,” I replied. “The line between gaming and gambling is blurring, and loot boxes can go right up to and over that line. It makes sense to pay attention and keep talking to him about it.”

A lootbox is a virtual container that players purchase (sometimes with in-game currency, often with real money) for a chance to receive random in-game rewards, like special outfits or powerful upgrades. While not technically gambling, things like lootboxes and skin cases mimic the variable rewards and random chance that define gambling activities. For most kids, playing with loot boxes is simply an exciting way to get an in-game reward or unlock a rare pet. Yet these systems can get kids comfortable spending money on chance-based rewards long before gambling is legal.

Key Findings From Betting on Boys

Whether it is loot boxes or betting on the super bowl win, Betting on Boys paints a powerful picture of the online gambling landscape kids are navigating today. Some highlights of the report include:

• Boys are gambling. Thirty-six percent of boys aged 11 to 17 report gambling in the last year. The percentage is even higher for older teens, including 49% of the seventeen-year-olds.  
• Gambling content shows up in feeds. Nearly half of teen boys who gamble see online gambling content, mostly through algorithmic exposure. Fifty-nine percent say the content “just started showing up in my feed.”
• Game-based activities mimic gambling. Twenty-three percent of all boys have participated in game-based activities that mimic gambling. More than half of them spent real money on random in-game rewards. 
• Boys do engage in sports-related gambling and traditional gambling. Twelve percent of boys participate in sports-related gambling and another twelve percent participate in traditional offline gambling such as poker or lottery. 
• Boys often first encounter gambling-like systems in gaming. Online gaming is the most common context in which boys encounter gambling-like systems. 
• Peer influence matters. Eighty-four percent of boys whose friends mostly or all gamble report gambling compared with just seventeen percent of those with no gambling friends.

Patterns and Pathways

For many teens gambling-related activities are fun, low-stakes experiences they engage in with family and friends. Taking gambling seriously doesn’t mean that you need to immediately abandon your family March Madness brackets. Even socially, many boys are playing fantasy sports or building brackets to build a sense of belonging with friends. For teens, social currency often matters way more than the money. That is why having friends who gamble so strongly increases the likelihood that teens will gamble too.

Most teens who gamble do not report major downsides. Still, 27 percent of boys who gamble say it has led to stress or conflict. The authors of this report point to a few patterns worth paying attention to:

• Early familiarity with chance-based spending in video games can normalize gambling-related behaviors.
• Increased exposure to gambling content online can make gambling feel normal and common.
• Shifting motivation from fun and friendly toward an emphasis on financial gain may be a sign that gambling behaviors are getting more risky.
• Easy access to betting platforms lowers the barriers to participation.

These patterns reflect a general “aging down” and normalization of gambling behaviors online. Because the adolescent brain is especially sensitive to rewards and social pressure and primed for risk-taking, adolescence is a window of vulnerability for problematic gambling. This does not mean gambling problems are inevitable for every teen who buys a loot box or places a bet. It does mean the risk is higher for young people, and it is a compelling reason to start talking early and often. Broad collections of studies links higher spending on loot boxes with problematic gaming and gambling symptoms. The direction of that relationship is not clear. Loot boxes may act as a “gateway,” problematic gaming may drive loot box spending, or other factors may be at work. Either way, it deserves our attention.

Let’s Talk Gambling

Too often we start talking about values and rules related to gambling after our kids have started engaging in it. But gambling is in ads, on our phones, and in our games. Chances are, if your kids are online, they are exposed to gambling-like activities. So let’s get talking.

Start with curiosity

Nonjudgmental, curious questions are the name of the game. Get curious about the games your child plays, the options for in-game purchases, and how your kids feel about them. Try prompts like, “Do you or any of your friends buy loot boxes?” “What did you get?” “What do you think about loot boxes?”

Talk about gambling-like mechanics

Just because it isn’t online poker, doesn’t mean it isn’t gambling. Ask questions about randomized rewards and chance-based spending in your child’s favorite game. Listen to learn more about your child’s motivations. Are they engaging for fun? Do they feel in control of their spending? Is there pressure to participate? 

Model it

When it comes to gambling around kids, avoid talking about gambling as a viable way to make money and watch out for celebrating wins around children without explaining the frequency of losses. Remind kids that betting companies need to make a profit to stay in business. It’s designed for them to win.

Share clear expectations

As with many parenting topics, mixed messages are okay. We can say, “Our expectation is that you talk to me before you spend real money in a game” or “My expectation is that you don’t engage in gambling until it is legal at 21.” We can also say, “If you make a mistake, I will never make you regret coming to me for help. We will figure it out together.”

Watch for warning signs of problematic behavior

Do not ignore signs that gambling is becoming a problem. These can include spending more than planned, chasing losses, borrowing or stealing money from friends, using credit cards without permission, or difficulty stopping or cutting back. If you are concerned, reach out to a mental health professional or your child’s primary care provider.

Focus on media literacy

Young people don’t like getting tricked or manipulated. Explore how gaming and media platforms use persuasive and exploitative design to make risky behavior feel easy and fun. Deconstruct advertisements, spot deceptive promotions, and problematize celebrity endorsements. We can ask questions like, “Why do you think loot boxes are so common in games? Who benefits most when you follow the money?” and “Why do you think that some countries have banned the use of lootboxes in some games under gambling laws?”

Talk about friends and peer pressure

For many young people, gambling is more about social connection and status than financial gain. This makes it especially important to talk about peer pressure, social decision-making, and how to tell the difference between shared fun and escalating risk.

Advocate for a better internet

Let’s keep modeling, talking, and skill building and ask that companies are held accountable for predatory monetization schemes. There are definitely financial winners in some of these platforms…and they aren’t our kids.