A comprehensive new policy paper released this week by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) warns that online microbetting poses an urgent public health risk by turning live sports into fast-paced, “slot machine-style” wagering. The report was officially unveiled at a legislative policy briefing on July 21 in Trenton, New Jersey where state lawmakers, public health experts, and individuals in recovery called on the Legislature to make New Jersey the first state in the nation to enact a complete prohibition on online microbets. 

Microbetting involves placing live proposition wagers on immediate, short-term outcomes taking place during a game, such as whether the next pitch will be a ball or a strike, or if the next football play will gain over four yards. Experts warn that the rapid-fire, frictionless nature of online microbetting drives impulse control issues, accelerates mental health vulnerabilities, and speeds up catastrophic financial ruin for vulnerable players. 

The newly released policy paper brings together clinical research, state demographic data in New Jersey, and economic evaluations detailing why microbetting represents a unique hazard. 

Microbetting Report Highlights 

• Sports bettors that participate in microbetting are comprised of more high-risk gamblers and experience more negative consequences as a result of their wagering.
• When it came to mental health, in-game bettors displayed greater mental health vulnerabilities, including emotional dysregulation, impulse control, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, as compared to bettors who only wager on the full game. 
• One study found that 78% of microbettors met the criteria for problem gambling, while only 5% did not.
• The overwhelming majority of problem gamblers, more than 90%, are dealing with another mental health issue besides their gambling problem, with depression and substance abuse among the most common.
• A literature review of 14 different studies found that roughly 36.5% of problem gamblers abuse their partners, and those partners are 11 times more likely to end up in the emergency room. In fact, a 2026 study found reported domestic violence incidents increased by as much as 10% in states with legal sports betting.

Leaders and Advocates Speak Out at Trenton Briefing

During the July 21 New Jersey State House briefing, which was moderated by CFG Director and problem gambling policy expert Brianne Doura-Schawohl, speakers urged immediate passage of legislation that carries civil penalties for online operators offering microbetting. 

State Senator Paul Moriarty (D-District 4), primary sponsor of S-2160:

“We’ve decided to tackle microbetting because I think it is something that promotes compulsive behavior. I don’t think it’s actually betting at all. The people that are betting on the next pitch in a baseball game or the next possession in a basketball game aren’t necessarily concerned with who wins the game.”

Assemblyman Cody Miller (D-District 4):

“I know that New Jersey was one of the first states that dealt with actually establishing online sports betting. I don’t think that any of us ever imagined that microbetting would become this habitual problem that is literally leading people to financial ruin, and we have to do something about it. And doing something about it means that we can be the first state in the nation to address microbetting.”

Assemblyman Dan Hutchison (D-District 4):

“My desire is to see this compulsive disorder of microbetting stop in its tracks today before it gets a hold of a lot of people. Because right now it’s still a smaller issue, but it’s going to gain momentum. We need to stop it now.”

Isaac Rose-Berman, Gambling Research and Policy Fellow at the American Institute for Boys and Men:

“Sports betting can be an entertainment product; it can bring people joy, can connect them with their favorite teams. Microbetting does none of that. It severs the tie between the person and the team, or even the player, and simply makes sports into a slot machine”

Dr. Harry Levant, Director of Gambling Policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute:

“When you look at the nine criteria for the diagnosis of gambling disorder, gambling addiction, much of the criteria are found in the very nature of microbetting itself… this is a product designed in a way that is defective. It is designed to get people hooked and keep them hooked.”

Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University:

“I think New Jersey can really lead the nation in creating some awareness that these particular products, which are growing rapidly in terms of how much revenue the platforms, the operators, as well as the leagues are intending to derive from this activity, and really this is a place where guardrails are desperately needed before the harm continues to ramp up at the rates that we’ve seen.” 

Rob Minnick, Founder of ODAAT Gambling Awareness and recovering gambling addict:

“I think microbetting, in its essence, is trying to make sports betting into a faster-paced slot machine. And there’s no skill, there’s no knowledge…It doesn’t matter how much you know about sports for you to determine if the pitcher is going to throw a ball or a strike the next play.”

Brianne Doura-Schawohl, Director of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling:

“Legal sports betting in most states, including New Jersey, is less than ten years old, yet 43% of Americans already believe sports betting is bad for society. Highly addictive, slot-like betting products like microbetting are a major reason why people are concerned, and rightfully so. The Lancet medical journal has flagged this form of betting as high-risk. Research substantiates this concern, as 78% of microbettors were found to meet the criteria for problem gambling.” 

Read and download the full paper here.