Gen Z bettors lose money on sports wagers, Bank of America study shows

Gen Z bettors returned less than 80 cents per dollar across every month this year, Bank of America finds

Bank of America Institute released research on 7 September showing that Americans recovered less than 75 cents for every dollar sent to betting platforms in each month of 2026. Gen Z fared better than older cohorts but still returned no more than 80 cents per dollar on average.

Two in five Gen Z respondents described sports betting as an investment tool, against one in five Americans overall. Lower-income households made up the largest share of bettors by income group at 37 percent, ahead of middle-income at 34 percent and higher-income at 29 percent. Nearly a quarter of sports bettors reported wagering daily.

First-time users in June and July ran more than three times January's level, which the bank attributed to the World Cup and new prediction-market products. Prediction-market activity reached 27 percent of all legal U.S. sports-betting volume during the World Cup, up from 9 percent at the start of the year. The bank found customers viewed prediction-market contracts as more investment-like than standard sports bets.