Around one in four Gen Z investors now prefer to choose sports betting as their primary plan for building wealth — and the NFL season starts in a few weeks. Findings from Betterment's fourth annual Retail Investor Survey show that 26% of Gen Z investors want to bet on sports consistently and even see betting as a major part of their subsequent financial plan. Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake.
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Now what looks alarming here is the source of the money they're betting. More than half of the Gen Z respondents (52%) said that at some point in the past year they took money they had planned to invest and bet it on sports instead. Among young investors more broadly, 14% said they do this several times a month.
But, about one third of Gen Z investors say they don't bet on sports at all. Across everyone surveyed, 63% don't. Placing a bet itself is now easier than ever — you only need a few taps on a phone.
Americans legally wagered $166.94 billion on sports last year, and sportsbooks kept $16.96 billion of that as revenue, according to the American Gaming Association. Meanwhile, Robinhood, which got a lot of young people trading stocks in the first place, added prediction markets to its app in 2025 and says that business is growing faster than anything else it has ever launched. There's also the stress that comes with money.
Rent, as we have it, is high, wages haven't kept up and buying a home feels out of reach for many people in their 20s. A Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress study this year found 32% of Gen Z had either put money into prediction markets and sports betting or were considering it. Across all U.S. adults drawn to high-risk assets, three-quarters said it was because they feel financially behind.
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