By Max Bruce-Ball, Second Year, English & History
'Gambling is not harmless. For young people, whose minds are far more susceptible to addiction and social pressure, the risks are even greater.' Richard Quigley, Labour MP
So alarmed was Labour MP Richard Quigley by student gambling that he raised his concerns in Parliament earlier this year.
He was responding to a 2025 survey by YGAM, the UK's leading charity dedicated to preventing gaming and gambling harms among young people, which found that one in four male students actively take part in online sports betting, betting 91 days a year on average. This equates to every other working day in a typical university term. Student gambling is on the rise, and sports betting now seems to be as much a part of university life as instant noodles and cheap 'Spoons' drinks.
But why is this the case, and what effect is it having?
Speaking to former students who gambled during their time at university, it becomes clear why student life lends itself so perfectly to gambling. Not only is this the moment these people are legally able to open gambling accounts for the first time, but they are also spending increased periods of time alone without much to do. Among those canvassed in this highly unscientific poll, the motivation for gambling among students seems fuelled less by financial incentive and more simply because it is 'something to do.'
First-time welcome offers on online gambling sites are often too tempting for students to ignore. Coupons are a staple of the freshers' experience: everyone remembers the free Domino's from the freshers' fair, or a tub of 'pick n mix' sweets for filling out a housing survey. Less spoken about is the spate of welcome offers from online gambling sites, tempting students with the promise of free money and an activity to fill their new, dead time.
Couple this with the exponential growth of gambling adverts within the modern sporting climate, and their use of celebrities and TikTok memes (whether it's Danny Murphy talking about his dead cat, or Mick McCarthy claiming 'it can' go on like this), and the growing number of students betting is no surprise. Gambling companies are clearly targeting younger adults, and with great success.
Numerous students view gambling as part of the novelty of university life. At this stage of life, the money spent on sports betting sites is minimal, but the lasting effects can be severe. One former student claimed that they 'bet less at uni' when they had a tighter budget, with betting only taking up 'two or three per cent' of their weekly budget. They said they did not consider themselves a gambler while at university, but definitely would now. So while gambling is not necessarily detrimental to the student experience from a financial perspective, university can be the start of a slippery slope when it comes to betting later in life.
The availability and accessibility of gambling sites to students, alongside the adverts mentioned above, have ensured that online sports betting has become not only a normalised part of the university experience, but a key part of it, and a way to make some much-needed money. The more savvy students can reap some big rewards from their betting.
So is sports betting at university necessarily a bad thing?
There is a case to be made for what sports betting as a teenager can actually teach you. There are similarities with the stock market, for starters. It can also teach a quick lesson in being accountable for your own money, after experiencing the pain of some losses. One former student said it helped him deal with rejection and learn how to 'lose well.' Another said they made good friends through betting, and now regularly meets up with fellow bettors at Aintree and York. In an era when men's mental health and the male loneliness epidemic are at the forefront of society's collective psyche, might it be too hasty to dismiss any avenue that could be helpful to young people, both emotionally and socially?
But if any of this is going to be possible, sports betting and its widespread nature within university environments needs to become less taboo. The ubiquitous slogan 'When the fun stops, stop' is often redundant among a student populace renowned for a lack of moderation and a struggle to stop. The need for a new approach to promoting safer gambling is clear, but what this looks like, how it is carried out, and by whom, are the key questions.
While it feels (and surely is) completely wrong to promote gambling as a means of acquiring valuable life lessons, the fact that it is already such a normalised part of student life means it might be equally pointless to unilaterally tell students that they should not gamble. Instead, could betting companies run student-specific campaigns with guidance on how gambling responsibly can be fun and have positive, life-enhancing effects, alongside the numerous shiny first-time offers they already promote?
Contrary to MP Quigley, I do not believe students are more at risk of problem gambling than other adults, but I do believe that student life lends itself to normalising gambling. Students are able to gamble with little consequence in the short term, but perhaps without realising, or being taught, the lasting impact of this 'bit of fun' they are partaking in. And that is where the danger lies.
Until universities and betting firms move past outdated warnings and engage in transparent, realistic dialogue, this normalisation will continue unchecked. The goal should be education (after all, isn't that why people go to university?), equipping young adults with the financial literacy and self-awareness needed to recognise when a casual habit is quietly turning into a lifelong risk. Sports betting may well offer camaraderie and short-term thrills, but without proactive guardrails, it risks leaving a generation paying the price long after graduation.
Featured Image: TIME / Daniel Diosdado
