Sports betting and prediction market companies are using internet slang and viral content to attract young users, according to a new analysis of their marketing strategies.
Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket regularly post content using phrases like “Wait he’s goated” and “The league is cooked” – language designed to appeal to younger internet users. These posts expose teens and young adults to prediction markets where people can bet money on real-world events.
Companies maintain users’ interest through what they describe as low-risk, casual betting opportunities that experts say feel more like entertainment than potentially harmful financial decisions.
Both prediction markets and sports betting apps accept users beginning at age 18, matching stock market investing requirements but three years younger than traditional gambling age limits in most states. Researchers say this age gap is significant because young adults remain susceptible to developing gambling problems and addiction.
Two senators introduced new legislation last week targeting this issue. The bill from a Republican senator from Alabama and a Democratic senator from Connecticut would prohibit social media companies and advertisers from displaying sports betting advertisements to minors. The Democratic senator stated that sportsbooks and prediction markets are “treating young people like a gold rush, flooding the internet with advertisements and promotions to hook them on gambling when they’re young.”
The meme-focused marketing represents a calculated effort to reach younger demographics, according to the founder of Memelord Technologies.
“If you want to attract a younger audience, you’re going to use memes. You’re going to use unhinged humor,” he explained. “You’re going to try to get in front of them by any means necessary.”
Recent advertisements from these platforms feature influencers in extreme situations, animals in business attire, and popular meme formats. These ads also appear in mobile games and other online spaces frequented by young people.
A spokesperson for Kalshi told reporters that memes represent “just a part of corporate branding nowadays” and aren’t specifically targeting younger viewers. The company reports its average user age is 33. Polymarket did not respond to requests for comment.
Research shows that approximately 30% of American adults under 30 placed sports bets within the past year, according to a summer survey. About 20% of Americans under 30 – including 21% of men and 16% of women in that age bracket – wagered online during that timeframe, rising from 7% three years prior.
Prediction markets attempt to separate themselves from gambling by claiming users make predictions about event outcomes rather than placing bets. Federal regulation allows them to bypass state gambling restrictions and age requirements.
Some online sports betting platforms also welcome 18-year-old users, including platforms that don’t require payment to participate. Many operate under sweepstakes models, making them available to users 18 and older across numerous states. While payment isn’t technically mandatory, users often need to pay for real money rewards.
A popular YouTuber who investigates internet fraud and has over 4 million subscribers said companies target young users to build lasting customer relationships.
“If you’re one of these platforms, you are incentivized to try to target them as soon as you can get them as a customer, so you can be the first kind of business they engage with in that space,” he explained. Platforms also offer small minimum bets to “lower the friction of getting involved” since “the hardest wager to get is the first wager.”
This approach creates serious risks for young people, according to a financial educator and author. She noted that age 18 marks the most crucial time for establishing financial stability and building wealth, but gambling and prediction trading can create a “cycle of addiction and debt.”
Dangerous financial habits like sports betting get reinforced by winning excitement or simple enjoyment. Gaming elements including leaderboards, contests, rewards, and video game features are embedded in some betting platforms, keeping users engaged longer and more intensively, said a game designer and author.
One platform features bright colors and interactive artwork. Users can create personal avatars, write profile descriptions displaying their statistics, gain followers, communicate with others, climb leaderboards, and collect achievement badges.
That company stated it offers a “fun, social and rewarding experience” for users competing in free games while “taking measures to ensure this activity is done responsibly.” The average age of paying users is 26, according to the company.
The platform’s “social gaming experience” provides numerous “no-cost avenues for users to participate in predictions and engage in friendly competition,” their statement continued.
Both major prediction market platforms feature leaderboards and comment sections allowing user interaction through text and animated images.
The Kalshi spokesperson said these features help users make informed trading decisions. The company has declined proposals for additional gaming elements like on-screen celebrations when users complete trades. It has implemented safety measures to prevent underage access, including requiring live selfies for account approval and using facial recognition for login verification.
Whether intentional or not, betting platforms and prediction markets expose young users to “highly stimulating, highly novel, highly intense things,” according to an addiction psychiatrist and co-director of a university gambling studies program.
“A young brain that’s not fully formed — that’s going to leave a significant mark,” he warned. “And that brain is going to want it again.”
