Gambling platforms in Pennsylvania raise concerns about underage participation

• Prediction markets enable young adults to access betting and wager on virtually everything
• The gambling expansion, combined with the popularity of video games offering gambling-like mechanics, raises concerns
• One expert sounds the alarm about underage gambling, revealing that it is definitely a cause of concern despite the challenges related to obtaining solid data

The expansion of legal sports betting saw millions of fans place wagers on their favorite team across the United States.

At the same time, prediction markets took the country by storm, offering a plethora of bets from sports to politics, music and other aspects of life.

Not unexpectedly, this expansion resulted in concerns about excessive and underage gambling.

Underage gambling is concerning

In Pennsylvania, online sports betting has been legal for years and the state has established a robust and competitive market.

While sports betting is limited to people age 21 and older, prediction markets offer a similar form of entertainment and can often be accessed by young adults, age 18 or older.

Betting and prediction markets have their target audiences, but video games reach players who are often way younger and some popular titles offer gambling-like features.

Despite the gaming rating system that has age restrictions, generally speaking, video games can reach much younger audiences.

In some games, players can access gambling-like mechanics through loot boxes, whereas in others, they are accompanied by platforms that enable "wagering" virtual items for a chance of receiving a more expensive virtual item.

Such activities generally don’t classify as gambling, but in reality, they are.

This is precisely why some experts are concerned with potential underage gambling in Pennsylvania.

Gillian Russell, a criminal justice professor at Penn State Abington, who was recently interviewed by USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania, spoke about the challenges related to underage gambling and the gambling-like platforms some children use.

The expert acknowledged the exceptional growth of prediction markets, including in Pennsylvania, that offer people a chance to gamble on virtually everything.

It is worth noting that such platforms offer their services as futures contracts, and aren’t regulated by standard gambling watchdogs. Still, in reality, the activity doesn’t differ much from wagering.

At the same time, Russell acknowledged that underage gambling is "definitely something to be concerned about."

The expert highlighted one obstacle to determining the rate of underage gambling, which is obtaining such data.

"Their parents don't realize that they're gambling. ... You're not going to get it unless you know exactly the right questions to ask, and people aren't necessarily asking those questions," Russell pointed out.

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