well the rise in popularity of legalized online sports betting has also appeared to cause a surge in the number of people struggling with gambling addictions those who work in the compulsive gambling space told lawmakers today the volume of calls to addiction hot lines is way up and the callers are getting younger and younger but the industry's proed to be an economic Boon to the state as Ted Goldberg reports now the legislature is figuring out how to balance the dark side of the betting BS business it's clear that New Jersey not only took the lead but set the gold standard for a legal and regulated sports betting Market no doubt gambling is an effective Revenue generating resource but at what social cost when New Jersey legalized Sports gambling supporters said it would legalize something many people already do illegally and raise money critics said more people would have their lives ruined at a joint Hearing in Trenton today it sounded like both sides were right the sports books that have been stood up in Atlantic City's casinos have created indirect or direct jobs of approximately 4,000 this is a number we love to see the more revenue generated from online and sports wagering the more calls we receive which translates into more and more people needing help legal internet betting raised nearly $200 million in Statewide Revenue this past August at a time when foot traffic in Atlantic City casinos hasn't completely recovered since the Pandemic those casinos have seen a rise in Revenue thanks in large part to online sports betting on a nationwide basis sports betting grew 30% this this year and traditional gross Gaming revenue only grew .1% legalizing Sports bending has shifted the activity from the illegal Black Market to the legal regulated market where protections could be put in place but some say those protections aren't enough and that while people have always gambled illegally making it legal has encouraged more people to place bets and sometimes become addicted 1 to 3% of the adult population in the United States has a gambling problem but that percent percent it is about 6% in New Jersey most likely due to the abundance of gambling opportunities and excessive advertising according to Rucker's data 85% of sports bets lose and two-thirds of those bets are in Game the companies accepting these Wagers say they do have Protections in place for people who could become problem gamblers we provide information to all of our players about the rules the risks and the odds of the games that they play we contribute time and resources to organizations like the Community Foundation of north of New Jersey the Community Food Bank of of New Jersey that same Rucker data shows that Sports betters are 10 times as likely as other gamblers to show symptoms of high-risk gambling and it can be hard to identify and help them we are in gambling where alcohol was in the ' 50s and cigarettes were in the 40s there is a stigma associated with being a gambler or having a problem so people are not going to self-identify especially since some gambling behaviors are being learned by first graders some of these different websites they start them watching gaming and placing virtual bets and they triage them so these kids are being primed as young as seven and eight and we work a lot with elementary students 50% of the boys that come to our Center um are already gambling with online with their parents I just ultimately I hope that the committee's work here The Joint Committee will be addressing that in a way that's responsible it's a delicate tight RPP for State leaders balancing a burgeoning industry with the addiction that can come with legal sports betting in Trenton I'm Ted gold ber NJ Spotlight news [Music]