NC has a gambling problem, and it is taking a toll on families

by Joe Waters

The family is the fundamental unit of society, as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and its stability and predictability are of paramount importance in securing the common good. As the conservative philosopher Michael Novak once wrote, “Political and social planning in a wise social order ought to begin with the axiom: What strengthens the family strengthens society.”

Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting in 2018, a new factor in economic well-being has rapidly emerged across the United States, with very little consideration for its impacts on families and, consequently, the strength of society: online sports betting. 

Legal sports betting was introduced in North Carolina just over two and a half years ago. Last month, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission released the most recent fiscal year report (2026) on sports gambling in the state. Gross wagering revenue (the total amount received by operators on wagers less payouts on winnings and before deductions for expenses, fees, and taxes), a decent proxy for the wealth North Carolinians lost to sports betting over the last year, was $794,751,177. 

The state then taxes 18% of that net loss to collect its $143 million, meaning households are out nearly $800 million so the state can capture $143 million in tax revenue.

Based on the formula established by the General Assembly in the enabling legislation, the revenue funds efforts to expand opportunities for young people in sports, subsidize athletic departments at state universities, and support the North Carolina Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund. The largest share, half of the total, simply flows into the state’s General Fund. Of the $143 million collected last year, the legislature directed a mere $2 million to combating gambling addiction.

Embracing Novak’s axiom, North Carolina’s leaders should ask: Does sports betting strengthen the family? Or does it undermine the family — and, by extension, society — even as it generates revenue for the state? In particular, does the distribution of taxes ($143 million in 2026) appropriately offset the wealth that North Carolinians are losing each year, the harm being caused to families, the pain of addiction, and the instability betting generates in household finances?

According to a recent paper on the financial consequences of legalized sports betting, bankruptcy rates are up 25-30% three to four years after online betting is legalized. This translates to roughly 30,000 more bankruptcies in the US per year. 

Another recent study finds that legalization doesn’t displace other gambling behavior, but eats into resources that otherwise would be available for more productive purposes, like savings. 

In the Capita-YouGov Quarterly Insights from America’s Families survey this May, we found that nearly one-third (31%) of parents with minor children reported that someone in their household placed a bet on a sporting event in the past year — through an app, a website, or in person. 

The financial consequences are real and immediate. Among households with known sports betting, nearly one-third (31%) cut spending on essentials at least once to place bets or cover losses — in North Carolina, that share was slightly higher, at 37%. And one-third (33%) of North Carolina parents in households with known sports betting say they are somewhat or very concerned about the financial risks betting poses for their family. 

Here’s why this matters: Family economic security, well-being, and household predictability are important drivers of healthy child development. Financial instability harms children regardless of a family’s overall income level — even households that don’t fall into the lower ends of the income spectrum, that experience a discrete, unpredictable income shock, such as an involuntary job loss, see measurable effects on kids’ academic outcomes, driven by parental stress and disrupted family routines. Sports betting losses that force a household to cut spending on essentials contribute to that same kind of volatility in family life, even when the household isn’t poor by any standard measure.

The toll isn’t just economic, but relational. Children flourish in the context of safe, stable, nurturing relationships with the adults in their lives, and those adults, in turn, depend on high-quality relationships of their own, especially with their spouses. Sports betting intrudes on both of these relationships. Problem gambling is associated with increased intimate partner violence, as partners hide the extent of their gambling from one another, and become distracted from — or physically and emotionally neglectful of — their children. Children exposed to problematic parental gambling are, in turn, at greater risk of developing gambling problems themselves.

Online sports betting, like so much of our online lives today, is nearly frictionless. The policy opportunity here isn’t to reverse legalization, but to create new frictions in the betting process to better protect household economic security and family well-being. Among the options available to policymakers are restricting advertising, banning prop and in-play bets, limiting catastrophic losses, and mandating affordability checks. These are relatively simple solutions that will eat into the profits of sports betting companies, but are necessary to preserve the economic well-being and healthy development of North Carolina families. For “what strengthens the family strengthens society.” 

Joe Waters is the co-founder and CEO of Capita.  He and his wife, Molly Benedum, a family physician, live with their children in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.