Florida’s online sports betting sector officially went live in November following an extensive legal battle. People in the state can now use Hard Rock Bet to place wagers on their favorite sports. One drawback to legal sports betting is that it makes gambling more accessible, which can, in turn, lead to higher addiction rates.
The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling revealed that it is struggling to keep up with the number of calls it is getting to its hotline. The not-for-profit group runs the state’s addictive gambling prevention program and experienced a 138% rise in calls month-on-month in January.
get approximately 40,000 phone calls in the current fiscal year
It expects to get approximately 40,000 phone calls in the current fiscal year, which compares to 26,000 in the most recent fiscal year. The demographic of callers that rose the most is young adult men.
The organization’s Executive Director Jennifer Kruse said that while it can keep up with this demand for now, she believes that the recent rise is just “the tip of the iceberg in terms of those volume increases.” Kruse also said that the group has gotten a similar increase in the number of text messages and live chat requests.