Sportsbooks Urge Parents to Talk to Teens About Gambling but Dispute Their Role

DraftKings' chief executive says every parent should talk to their children about gambling, and FanDuel funds videos to help them. Confronted with a survey finding that 42.7% of 13 to 17 year olds gambled last year, the industry points to unregulated sites and video games.

• DraftKings chief executive Jason Robins told CNBC on 28 October that every parent should talk with their children about gambling, and FanDuel told the Guardian it works to help adults talk with teens
• A Rutgers University survey released the same day found that 42.7% of 13 to 17 year olds gambled in the past year and that 10.8% of those who did screened as high risk
• The study says it did not establish whether minors used regulated sportsbooks, FanDuel's point in response, and was funded through a research centre that lists FanDuel and DraftKings as donors
• The Sports Betting Alliance, which represents both companies, called the findings unsurprising given video gaming and opposes the federal Safe Bet Act
• DraftKings has also told Congress it does not target losing bettors, and both companies face a Louisiana class action over app design

The Operators' Message Is Aimed at the Kitchen Table

In a CNBC interview published on 28 October, Robins said every parent should have the conversation, "even if you don't have a business or don't live in a world where the kids grow up around it". He said his children know what point spreads and money lines are but must be 21 to bet, and that the aim is "a transparent relationship with your kids". According to CNBC, he said he would not object to required gambling limits, a difficult policy question in his view, and that the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA) is working on a national self-exclusion list.

FanDuel has run Trusted Voices: Conversations About Betting, a video series for parents, guardians and coaches made with EPIC Global Solutions, since 4 September 2024, according to its announcement. Asked by the Guardian for its 9 November report about new teen data, a FanDuel spokesperson set out its age checks and said the study did not state whether respondents bet on regulated or unregulated platforms.

What the Rutgers Data Show

The study by Lia Nower and Jackie Stanmyre of the Rutgers Center for Gambling Studies surveyed 1,677 people aged 13 to 27 across the United States between 24 April and 4 July 2026. Of the 13 to 17 year olds, 42.7% reported gambling in the past year, and 10.8% of those who gambled scored as high risk on the Problem Gambling Severity Index, which the authors stress is not a clinical diagnosis.

Sports betting is not the main route in. Among gamblers of all ages, scratch-off tickets were the most common activity, at 45.8%, and 20.7% bet on sports; teenagers leaned towards bingo and raffles. The report says it did not establish whether minors used regulated platforms, offshore sites or informal bets at home or school.

One finding cuts both ways for the industry's message: 61.2% of high-risk teens had gambled with a family member. The authors say this does not show adults caused the problems, but advise parents not to encourage informal sports bets.

The Industry Points Elsewhere

Joe Maloney, president of the Sports Betting Alliance, told the Guardian the teen findings were "not surprising, given the video game environments" teenagers face. He also disputed an Epic Research study of 26 June that found diagnosed gambling disorder up about 61% since 2018 in states with legal sports betting, a rise its authors say they cannot cleanly separate from better coding. In a statement, Maloney said states had built evolving frameworks and that the federal Safe Bet Act would push bettors to illegal markets. According to the Guardian, the bill would ban betting ads during sports broadcasts, cap deposits at five in 24 hours and bar credit cards.

Clinicians quoted by the Guardian report more young patients with gambling problems. An Ottawa paediatrician who specialises in adolescent addiction said putting the onus on parents was "offloading responsibility from companies that are making incredible amounts of money".

The Data Come From a Centre the Operators Help Fund

The study was paid for through a Center of Excellence grant from the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG), whose funding page lists FanDuel among supporters giving $200,000 or more and DraftKings in the $50,000 to $99,000 band. That does not make it industry research, but the data come from a programme the two companies help fund, not from their critics. FanDuel's point about regulated platforms is a limitation the authors state themselves, and a fair one, though licensed age checks are not airtight: North Carolina fined Underdog $175,000 over 38 underage accounts. Nor does it reach marketing, where ROGA's August code requires only that ads be directed at audiences expected to be at least 75% of legal age.

The Parental Message Asks Nothing of the Product

Robins' advice and FanDuel's videos place the work with families, and the Rutgers data suggest families matter. Nower's recommendations go further: prevention from middle school, a federal regulator with national self-exclusion, and oversight of prediction markets and social casino. Robins told CNBC he would not object to required limits, yet the alliance that represents his company opposes a federal bill that would cap deposits. Until the industry says which further binding rules it would accept, its parental message will read as advice to others.

The industry is right that the survey cannot tie teen gambling to licensed apps. It has yet to say what more it would accept for its own products beyond the state rules it already defends.