Did a new awareness campaign associated with the gambling industry miss the mark?
Offshore online gambling, prediction markets, sweepstakes casinos, illicit video gambling machines, and so on are real, often horrible problems facing people in the U.S. But is the inaugural “Illegal Gambling Awareness Week” also problematic, given the state of regulated online gambling?
Gambling regulators in at least six states publicly supported or endorsed the campaign.
The Las Vegas-based International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) organized the awareness week (Nov. 9-13). A plan to hold Illegal Gambling Awareness Week was made public this past summer, according to CDC Gaming Reports.
IAGR issued a press release about the awareness week in Peru, where it recently held a conference for regulators. The organization has significant industry backing, with sponsors including the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) and Gaming Laboratories International.
While it’s commendable to remind people of the harms associated with illegal or allegedly illegal forms of gambling, the broader concern is that states are promoting legal online gambling markets that numerous public health experts call woefully under-regulated.
A congressional subcommittee on Wednesday discussed the harm of sports gambling on college campuses, which includes prediction markets that allow users as young as 18, state-sanctioned apps that typically permit 21+ but can be accessed by underage users through prohibited “proxy” wagering, so-called daily fantasy sports, and offshore betting sites.
“We don’t tolerate over-serving of alcohol in bars. We shouldn’t tolerate over-serving of young people on sports betting, and that’s exactly what’s happening right now,” testified Dr. Lindsey Mortenson, Chief Mental Health Officer, University of Michigan.
Illegal Gambling Awareness Week isn’t just about sports betting, but sports betting has exploded in recent years, so it has drawn much of the attention and shaped the larger debate.
At its best, Illegal Gambling Awareness Week draws scrutiny to unscrupulous gambling businesses that operate outside state and/or federal law. At its worst, it distracts from the insufficient guardrails and friction around legal gambling, especially online.
It is also a bit curious why this awareness week would be held during Veterans Day 2026, when some service members experience gambling-related harm by legal slot machines on military bases. For some, like veteran Dave Yeager, a gambling problem began with those machines.
After initially winning at these legal slots, “a seed was planted that grew over the next several months from this is interesting and fun to I can’t stay away from these rooms,” Yeager told GamblingHarm.org in a recent interview. He’s in recovery from gambling and now a leading advocate for prevention.
There were some brighter spots from Illegal Gambling Awareness Week.
For example, Arizona did a solid job highlighting some benefits of state oversight, including consumer fraud prevention, without exaggerating existing addiction mitigation. At the same time, some states put out questionable statements overstating the safety of legal online gambling. A 2026 Siena Research Institute survey found that 60% of online sports bettors chased their losses, a core sign of a potential problem.
“A sleek website and a familiar logo can easily fool bettors into believing a platform is legitimate,” Jackie Johnson, Director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, said in a statement.
“When Arizonans deposit funds on unlicensed, unregulated platforms, they lose all consumer protections. There is no guarantee you will get paid your winnings, personal and financial data may be exposed to fraud, and these platforms operate outside the law. Our priority is ensuring Arizonans can make informed choices, know how to verify their platform before placing a bet, and play responsibly.”
“Play responsibly” (also known as “responsible gambling”) is a contested framework among advocates because it places the onus on users of addictive and arguably under-regulated platforms. Still, this Arizona statement did a better job than some other states. Others underscored the current guardrails they claim are adequate to mitigate problem gambling.
Arizona didn’t overpromise what online gambling regulation has accomplished. Michigan, meanwhile, promoted the slogan “Play it safe. Bet legal.” But the legality of a gambling product is not synonymous with its safety.
Illegal Gambling Awareness Week is one of at least three major annual awareness campaigns promoted by gambling regulators, industry organizations, or industry-funded groups. There is a conflict of interest in all of them.
March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM), organized by the industry-funded National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG). September, meanwhile, is Responsible Gaming Education Month (RGEM), powered by the American Gaming Association (AGA), the industry’s largest lobbying group.
Despite these awareness campaigns, gambling-related harm remains a growing public health concern. A June 2026 study by Epic Research found gambling disorder diagnoses had risen 61% since 2018 in states that legalized sports betting. The people diagnosed represent just the tip of the tip of the iceberg, as most people delay seeking help for years or never do.
More than awareness is needed, and that is a central issue in policy debates. The industry, for the most part, opposes even the most modest reforms. Illegal gambling, especially offshore betting sites, shouldn’t be used as an excuse to avoid legislation to establish comprehensive online gambling guardrails.
