Are Rising Bets a New Signal for Consumer Spending?

07 October 2026

Economists are turning to an unusual metric to gauge consumer spending trends - the flows of money on online betting platforms. Bank of America's latest analysis found that the number of online betting users surged this summer, with first-time users in June and July more than triple the number in January. The bank reported a 40% increase in online betting participation in July compared with the start of the year.

Bank of America's data show that the online betting boom is being driven by younger consumers. Gen Z and Millennials accounted for 88% of online betting activity in July. Economists and bank analysts are watching these betting flows closely as a possible indicator of broader shifts in discretionary spending and savings behavior.

"Economists are concerned that increased gambling puts a strain on household budgets," said Rachel Ortiz, a senior researcher at Bank of America. "The flows are a real-time gauge of how much surplus spending power younger consumers have to devote to entertainment like online betting."

On average, Bank of America found that customer inflows to online betting sites were less than three-quarters of outflows in recent months. And the median deposit account balance of households that participated in online betting was just 59% of the balance of households that did not. These figures suggest that the expansion of online gambling is not generating net income for most users, but rather drawing on discretionary spending or potentially savings.

Regulators and economists in other markets are also scrutinizing the impact of surging online betting. In Brazil, Reuters reported that family spending on gambling jumped to 1.9% of income in 2024, double the share in 2018. Over the past year, Brazilians spent 68.2 billion reais ($12.2 billion) on betting platforms abroad.

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While the overall impact on household spending remains relatively limited, online betting has risen rapidly in South Africa as well. The South African Reserve Bank reported that total bets placed reached around R1.5 trillion in the 2024/25 financial year, with online platforms now accounting for more than 60% of gross gambling revenue.

The expansion of online betting, sportsbooks, and prediction markets reflects a broader shift in digital entertainment. Since the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, sports betting has transformed into a multimillion-dollar industry, with betting apps that are becoming increasingly gamified and heavily marketed.

But economists are grappling with the unresolved question of how persistent the online betting boom will be. Ortiz at Bank of America said the jury is still out on whether this is a temporary trend driven by the post-pandemic entertainment surges, or a persistent shift in discretionary spending. That will determine whether the flows become a reliable indicator - and how big a drag on broader consumption and saving behavior.