The rapid rise of gambling has broken global revenue records and is set to do it again this year.

“It has become easy and accessible, I could open my phone right now and make a sports bet in under a minute, from anywhere I want,” said UMD freshman and sports fan, Jake Aronson. Technology's role in gambling grows more and more every year, online gambling is now leading the industry.

“The global online gambling market was estimated at USD 57.54 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 63.53 billion in 2022,”according to Grand View Research. These numbers are massive, and people are mostly betting their money on Major professional sports.

NFL, Soccer, MMA, Basketball, Golf- any sport you can think of can be bet on. “I only bet on sports, I use two apps, PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy,” said UMD student Owen Cummings. “I heard about the apps through my friends so I downloaded them. The cool thing about these apps is that I can refer people. Each time I refer someone and they use my code, I get $25 of free in-game gambling money to use.

“Everyone I knew ended up getting these apps, it was like a web of people referring each other and using the apps.” PrizePicks came in at No. 66 on the magazine’s list of the fastest-growing private businesses in the US. They reported a revenue growth of 5836% over its first three years. The growth is immense for PrizePicks, at the beginning of the year they had 500,000 active users which continues to climb.

Gambling is being seen more as a social event in the Gen Z era. “Casinos are a fun place to go with a group of friends, it's almost like a little competition to see who can make the most money. Same with sports betting, you are watching sports you love with your friends while trying to make money," said student Jack Lang.

Lang mainly bets on the NFL, making him among the 46.6 million Americans who plan to bet on this NFL season, according to David Purdum of ESPN. The combination of technology, being social, sports and competition all go hand in hand making it the ultimate experience for Gen Z gamblers.

There seems to be more connectedness and thrill when gambling with friends- more excitement watching games, hoping the team or player you bet on succeeds and makes you money. Watch in coming years as the online gambling and sports world continues to affect the gambling scene and shifting social interactions.

Gambling’s Big Boom