Gallup Releases Audit of Gambling in America

Gallup News Release

Two-thirds of Americans approve of gambling, but serious reservations
remain about the impact of legal betting on sports events, the
effects of casinos on local communities, and the growth of youth
gambling. Almost half of Americans favor keeping gambling at its
current level, while the rest are divided over whether legalized
gambling should be expanded, reduced or banned altogether.

As the National Gambling Impact Study Commission prepares to release its report on the social and economic impacts of gambling in the United States, a new Gallup Poll Social Audit shows nearly two-thirds (63%) of American adults approve of legalized gambling, while 32% oppose it. The poll also shows American teenagers are more evenly divided in their support for legalized gambling, with 52% of those aged 13-17 in favor and 47% opposing it.

However, both teens and adults see problems with legalized gambling.
Two-thirds of both groups believe betting on sports events leads to
cheating or "fixing" of games, and 57% of adults oppose legalized
betting on sports events as a way to raise state revenues.

Fifty-six percent of adults believe casinos have a negative impact on
family and community life in the cities in which they operate, even
though a majority (67%) says that gambling helps the local economy.
Twenty-two percent of Americans say that legalized gambling should be expanded, 47% say that it should stay at current levels, and 29%
believe that it should be reduced or banned altogether.

GAMBLING BEHAVIOR
Nearly seven out of ten adults and 26% of teens have taken part in
some form of legal gambling, with lotteries being the favorite form
of most Americans. Fifty-seven percent have purchased a lottery
ticket within the last year, while 31% of Americans have gambled in a
casino. However, only 26% of those who have gambled within the last
12 months claim to be "ahead" in their winnings, while 49% admit to
losing money.

The Gallup results also counter a stereotype of gamblers as lower
class and lower-income. The results find that 75% of those earning at
least $75,000 annually take part in some form of gambling, while 63%
of those earning less than $25,000 do. The same trends hold for
education, as 72% of college graduates report some form of gambling
in the past year, compared to 61% of those who did not complete high
school. Men tend to gamble more than women do, and among religious groups, Catholics are far more likely to gamble than Protestants and members of other religious groups.

CASINOS AND COMMUNITIES
There is a clear distinction in Americans' minds about the economic
benefits of casinos and the social impact on the communities in which
they operate. Two-thirds (67%) of adults claim casinos generally help
a community's economy, but 56% believe they damage everyday family and community life. Teens are more evenly divided on the economic impact (51% say they help, 45% say they hurt), but opposition is even stronger on the social impact - 70% of teens believe casinos hurt a community.

PROBLEM GAMBLING
Eleven percent of adults say they sometimes gamble more than they
should, with that opinion more prevalent among men than women - and among those who report a family history of gambling problems. In
addition, 9% of adults - up from four percent in a 1989 Gallup poll -
and 10% of teens report that gambling has caused problems in their
family. Also, 41% of adults and 28% of teens say they know someone
outside their family for whom gambling has become a problem.

TEEN GAMBLING
The Gallup survey provides some justification for concerns about teen
gambling: 20% of teens say they gamble more than they should,
compared to just 11% of adults. Teens also tend to be more positive
about the success of their gambling: 61% claim to be "ahead" on their
wagers over the last year, while only 26% of adults make the same
claim. Finally, 29% of teen gamblers claim to have made their first
wagers when they were ten years old or younger, and a surprising
number of teens bet on professional and college sports (27% bet on
professional events, while 18% bet on college games). This, despite
the fact that almost all legal gambling is restricted to those over
18 years of age

GAMBLING AS A SOURCE OF STATE REVENUE
Lotteries have become an important source of funds for many states,
and 75% of adults support this form of gambling as a way to raise
state revenue. Bingo for cash prizes receives support from 74% of
adults for this purpose, while 63% support casino gambling. Off-track
betting on horse races, betting on professional sports events, and
video poker all receive significantly less support.

GAMBLING AND THE INTERNET
There is far less support for gambling on the Internet than for other
forms of legalized gambling. Three out of four adults (75%)
disapprove of online gambling, while 20% approve. In addition, 76% of adults and 70% of teens believe it is easy for teens to gamble on the internet, and a majority of both teens and adults believe that
Internet access has increased gambling among teens. However, despite this perception, only 2% of teens report using the Internet to
gamble.

METHODOLOGY
This poll was conducted among 1,523 American adults 18 years and
older, along with 501 teens (ages 13-17) living in the continental
United States. The interviews were conducted by telephone in both
English and Spanish. For results based on samples of these sizes, one
can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling
and other random effects could be plus or minus 3 percentage points
for adults and plus or minus 5 percentage points for teens.