Emergency room visits tied to gambling disorders doubled after Ontario expanded its legal online sports-betting market, according to new Canadian research that raises fresh concerns about the health consequences of increasingly accessible sports wagering.

Researchers found that the increase was particularly pronounced among males, with younger men experiencing some of the largest increases in gambling-related emergency department care.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto and other institutions, examined gambling-disorder emergency department visits among Ontario residents from ages 10 through 105 over a 14-year period. The researchers compared the years before and after Ontario legalized privately operated single-event online sports betting in April 2022.

The results suggest that the consequences of expanded betting access may extend far beyond lost money. Some people arriving at emergency departments were experiencing major depression, suicidal thoughts, mental-health conditions or substance-abuse problems.

Ontario Became a Major Online Betting Market

Ontario became the first Canadian province to legalize privately run single-event online sports-betting platforms in April 2022. The change rapidly transformed the province's gambling landscape.

In 2024 alone, Ontarians wagered $82.7 billion through approximately 2.6 million player accounts, according to the research information supplied for the study.

Researchers reviewed emergency department records involving gambling disorders during the study period. In total, 757 people accounted for 952 emergency-room visits in which a gambling disorder was listed either as the primary reason for the visit or as a contributing factor.

After single-event sports betting was legalized and Ontario's online gambling market expanded, gambling-related emergency visits doubled.

The researchers emphasized that the hospital data may represent only a portion of the actual problem.

Dr. Daniel Myran, senior author of the study and an associate professor of family and community medicine, said most people experiencing gambling problems never seek medical care. That means an increase in emergency-department cases could be revealing a much larger increase in gambling-related harm occurring outside hospitals.

Read the University of Toronto study announcement

Young Men Experienced the Sharpest Increase in Emergency Room Visits

The demographic differences in the study were particularly striking.

Emergency visits were 154% higher than expected among males ages 10 to 29 and 116% higher among males ages 30 to 44, according to the supplied research findings.

Researchers did not find comparable changes among females.

The concentration among younger males is significant because online sports betting has become deeply connected to sports viewing, smartphone use and social-media culture. Betting can take place almost instantly, allowing a person to wager before a game, during a game and even on individual plays or other in-game events.

Ryan Forrest, first author of the University of Toronto study and a doctoral student at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said the concentration of increased emergency visits among younger males is especially concerning because the industry has rapidly expanded while heavily promoting sports betting to that demographic.

The problem is therefore not necessarily limited to the act of placing a wager. Researchers are concerned about what can happen when frequent betting develops into a gambling disorder and begins interacting with depression, suicidal thinking, substance abuse or other mental-health problems.

Nearly One-Third of Emergency Room Visits Ended in Hospital Admission

The seriousness of some of the cases was reflected in what happened after patients arrived at emergency departments.

Nearly one-third of the gambling-related emergency department visits resulted in hospital admission.

That figure is important because it indicates that these were not necessarily brief encounters involving people who simply wanted advice about their betting habits. A substantial share involved circumstances serious enough to require inpatient medical care.

The supplied research also indicates that many patients presented with major depression or suicidal thoughts, while others had mental-health or substance-abuse diagnoses.

That combination creates a complicated public-health problem. Gambling disorder may be the immediate reason for an emergency visit, but financial losses, anxiety, depression, substance use and suicidal thinking can overlap and reinforce one another.

Why Emergency Data May Understate the Problem

Emergency departments are not where most gambling problems are treated.

People struggling with gambling may hide their losses from family members, avoid medical care, borrow money, accumulate debt or attempt to recover previous losses by making additional wagers. As a result, researchers caution that hospital records provide only a window into the broader problem.

The increase in emergency visits could therefore be an indicator rather than a complete measurement of gambling harm.

The concern becomes even more relevant as sports betting continues moving from traditional casinos and betting shops onto smartphones.

The digital model removes many of the barriers that once existed between a person and a wager. A bettor does not necessarily have to travel to a casino or sportsbook. A phone can provide access wherever the person happens to be.

Canada Offers a Warning for the United States

The Canadian findings are especially relevant to the United States because online sports betting has expanded rapidly since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal prohibition that had prevented most state-authorized sports gambling.

The supplied data indicate that 27% of U.S. adults now say they have an active online sportsbook account, including approximately half of men ages 18 to 49.

That figure represents an increase from 22% in 2025 and 19% in 2024.

Sports bettors commonly report that they participate because betting makes watching games more exciting, increases their interest in live sports or gives them an opportunity to make money.

But other survey results point toward warning signs, including more bettors saying they wagered more than they should and more reporting feelings of shame or regret after losing.

The Canadian research does not prove that U.S. betting expansion will produce exactly the same medical consequences. But it offers a reason to closely monitor emergency-room data as mobile wagering becomes increasingly common.

Related Research and Reporting

The research and background material supplied for this article can be explored through the following sources:

American Journal of Preventive Medicine study

New York Post report on the emergency-room study

Siena Research Institute study on U.S. sports-betting accounts

Rutgers University problem-gambling research

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