By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Nearly $41 million was spent by people hoping to hit the jackpot with state lottery tickets and scratch off cards in Wood County in 2021.
Averaged out, that’s $389 for every adult in the county. Given that between 5% and 20% of Wood County residents purchase Ohio lottery products on a monthly basis, the amount spent by those who gamble is considerably higher.
And soon local residents will be able to spend – and potentially win – more when Ohio starts allowing sports gambling in 2023.
Dr. Bill Ivoska recently presented a report on local gambling to the Wood County Prevention Coalition.
Ivoska’s research had three purposes. First, to better understand the type and frequency of gambling activity in Wood County. Second, to estimate the level and trends in “disordered” gambling among local school aged youth, college students, and adults. And third, to make recommendations for targeted prevention efforts.
This research looked at 7th through 12th graders in the county, college students at BGSU, and adults living in Wood County.
The Ohio lottery offers a plethora of gaming opportunities for citizens in Wood County, including Pick 3,4,5 Games, Rolling Cash, Lucky for Life, Classic Lotto, Lucky One, Keno, numbers games, sports pools, card lotteries and all the EZ play games instant games, lottery drawings, and raffles.
Lottery ticket sites in Wood County have grown to 123 sales locations in 2021.
“Our landscape is rich with gambling opportunities,” Ivoska’s report stated.
The most prevalent form of gambling is the purchase of state lottery tickets, scratch offs and sports betting.
Wood County’s total sales of instant and online products increased $16,533,550 or 68% between 2014 and 2021, and up another $11,943,151 or 41% between 2017 and 2021.
Some local residents also frequent the Hollywood Casino, which sits on the Wood County border with Toledo. Gambling profits at the casino increased from $181 to $191 million between 2014 and 2017 (Ohio Casino Control Commission).
Gambling opportunities can be found all over the internet, on such sites as DraftKings, FanDuel, PokerStars, Facebook’s Texas Holdem, and PKR sports betting. According to Ivoska’s report, every home with a personal computer or smartphone becomes a portal for minors or adults to gamble on poker or other card games, on casino games, sports wagering, reality shows, celebrity arrests/births/events, or any popular contest or political race.
School aged youth showed a significant increase in gambling activities between 2020 and 2022. Teens are most likely to gamble on games of personal skill and sports betting, as well as purchasing scratch off tickets. Males are more likely than females to engage in sports gambling activities and to score higher on problem gambling scales.
Students at BGSU showed a significant increase in gambling activities since 2018. College students, particularly males, are most likely to engage in sports betting, with 8% of BGSU males participating in sports betting on a daily or weekly basis.
Adults in Wood County showed no apparent change in the level of problem or disordered gambling over the rates observed in 2018. Rates remain low at less than 1%.
The gaming industry has been transformed into a socially acceptable form of entertainment, Ivoska noted in his report.
Once limited to places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, casinos now exist in hundreds of cities across the U.S. Additionally, government licensed and regulated gambling activities such as state lottery drawings, scratch-off tickets, and video lottery machines exist in almost every carry out and bar.
In December 2021, Ohio legislators finalized House Bill 29 which legalized betting on professional, college and esports. The new law is scheduled to take effect in 2023.
The bill allows casinos, sports teams, stadiums, bars and restaurants to apply for gambling licenses, which will be regulated by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Cell phone apps that offer sports betting will also be legal.
The Ohio Legislative Service Commission estimates that sports gambling will produce more than $3.35 billion in revenue per year by the end of the decade.
The increased gambling opportunities have been accompanied by an increase in the media promotion of gambling related activities. This includes advertisements about casinos, state and multi-state lotteries, instant winning through scratch off tickets, keno in bars and clubs, internet-based poker games and other games of chance, and fantasy sport team wagering.
Viewers of sports are hit with advertisements and promotions for FanDuel, DraftKings, and other sports betting apps.
The excitement and glamor of gambling is featured in the advertisements with little regard for the statistical odds of winning, or the dangers of problematic addiction, Ivoska noted in his study.
This proliferation of casinos and gambling opportunities, along with aggressive media advertisements has contributed to the public shift in attitudes towards gambling, the report stated. Gambling has become a legal, normal, socially acceptable, and popular activity in everyday life in the U.S, according to the American Gaming Association.
For most of the population, the existence of legalized gambling is not associated with personal or family problems. But for a minority of the population, gambling entertainment can turn into a social or personal problem with serious financial, family, and community consequences, Ivoska noted.
The highest rate of disordered gambling in Wood County continues to be among upper school aged and collegiate males. And with more gambling opportunities, the likelihood of problem gambling among youth also increases.
In 2022, the prevalence rate of disordered gambling increased to 6.7% from the 2020 rate of 2.7% among 7 through 12th graders. The prevalence of daily and weekly gambling activities reported by teens increased in 2022, but varies by type of gambling activity and by gender. For example, 17.8% of all youth reportedly bet on sports teams, and 6% bet on daily fantasy sports games, such as FanDuel and DraftKings. However, those rates jump to 20.3% and 9.6% respectively among males.
The most prevalent types of gambling activities among Wood County adolescents are betting money on sports: sports teams (pro, college, or amateur), on fantasy sports or games with an entry fee to play, on daily fantasy sports such as FanDuel or DraftKings, or on betting money on games of personal skill. The second highest level of prevalence occurs in Ohio Lottery games such as purchasing Ohio Lottery tickets or purchasing scratch off tickets.
