Young adults who engage in sports betting face heightened risks for gambling-related harm due to their developmental stage, characterized by emerging financial independence, increased risk-taking tendencies, and vulnerability to addiction onset. Research consistently shows that sports bettors consume alcohol more heavily and frequently than non-gamblers and other types of gamblers, with higher rates of both alcohol use disorder symptoms and binge drinking episodes. While the connection between alcohol and sports betting is well-established, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Specifically, it’s unknown whether this relationship reflects a stable personality trait or whether changes in drinking patterns directly influence betting behavior in real-time, independent of individual predispositions. This study addresses this gap by examining how fluctuations in an individual’s alcohol consumption relate to their sports betting outcomes.
The study recruited 210 young adults (ages 18-29) who had bet on sports at least twice in the past month and were not in treatment for gambling disorder. Participants completed biweekly surveys reporting their sports betting frequency, negative betting consequences, and alcohol consumption over the previous two weeks. The analysis used generalized linear mixed models to separate between-person and within-person associations, with variables centered appropriately to isolate these distinct effects.
The study found that the amount wagered on sports betting showed the greatest fluctuation, with 76% of its variability explained by within-person changes and only 24% by between-person differences. In contrast, negative consequences were largely explained by between-person variability (84%). Periods of increased alcohol use frequency were consistently linked to greater sports betting engagement: each additional drinking day corresponded to an exponential 7.7% increase in betting frequency, 9.4% in the number of bets, and 9.4% in the amount wagered. These effects were primarily within-person, as individuals who generally drank more than others were not necessarily heavier bettors. Elevated alcohol use frequency was also associated with greater loss chasing (6.1% increase per additional drinking day) and higher odds (17.4%) and scores (10.6%) of experiencing negative consequences, even after controlling for total sports bets. Overall, alcohol use frequency uniquely predicted heightened sports betting engagement, wagering, and related harms at the within-person level.
Takeaway: More frequent alcohol use was linked to increased sports betting activity, loss-chasing, and related harms, underscoring the need for policies and prevention efforts that decouple alcohol use from sports betting to mitigate compounded risks.