A few hours before the Indiana University football team played in the national championship game, graduate student Liam Quinn decided to bet $50 on IU winning the game.
Part of that bet also included quarterback Fernando Mendoza scoring a rushing touchdown, and receiver Omar Cooper Jr. gaining at least 30 yards on receptions.
“I try not to go too crazy,” he said. “When Indiana was in the national championship, I decided to put $50 down, just because I'm like, I believe in them.”
IU won the game. Mendoza scored a rushing touchdown and Cooper caught passes for a total of 71 yards. Quinn made $300 that night.
Quinn doesn’t usually bet $50 on a game. Normally, he puts between $5 and $10 down on IU basketball and football games, as well as Chicago Cubs baseball games. He started betting a couple of years ago; he said it helps him stay engaged when watching sports.
“Especially in this day and age with technology, where people would go to these games or events, they would be on the phones a lot too, being bored, it helps, like, keep you into the game as well,” he said. “Especially, like basketball, if you don't know much, you can, like, follow one player and you can get rewarded for believing in this player.”
He said some games can be kind of slow, “so I thought it would be a good idea to make it a more fun environment.”
Sports betting was first legalized in Indiana in 2019; people can bet on a variety of sports, but not high school and amateur youth sports.
In a 2022 survey done by the Indiana Problem Gambling Awareness Program, which focused on people ages 18-34, Director of Research Desiree Reynolds found that 30 percent reported participating in sports gambling. That’s up 12 percent from two years prior.
“Now you see ads for it on TV. You see famous people advertising for sports betting sites,” Reynolds said. “And so, I believe that sports gambling is becoming much more infused into our sports culture. It's something that people are doing while they're watching games or hanging out with friends, they're, you know, talking about it more.”
A 2024 Adult Gambling Behaviors in Indiana survey reported about 91.5 percent of Indiana adults participated in at least one gambling activity in the past year. About 23.4 percent said they participated in a form of sports gambling, with more male participants doing so.
Those percentages have increased steadily over three years. In a 2022 survey, about 89.3 percent of Indiana adults reported participating in at least one gambling activity in the past year, with 18.6 percent saying they participated in a form of sports gaming. And in the 2021 survey, about 84.8 percent of Indiana adults reported participating in at least one gambling activity in the past year, with 20.5 percent saying they participated in a form of sports gaming.
The sports betting handle, or total money bet, in Indiana has also increased in the last five years. In 2025, people bet over $5.6 billion in Indiana, over $440 million more than 2024. Gross revenue also increased over $80.5 million between 2024 and 2025.
Studies show gambling can become addictive. Quinn controls how much he bets by setting a limit on his bank account: he can’t spend more than $50 a month on betting. He tries to put most of the money he wins from betting back into his back account but saves some for smaller bets later on. And if he starts losing more money, he stops betting in that moment. The most he’s lost in one bet is about $75.
While some students like Quinn bet to engage more in a sports game and spend time with friends, Reynolds said others may do so to cope with stress.
“College students are under enormous stress and pressure, and sometimes that stress can lead to coping in different ways. And gambling is one of those ways people can choose to cope,” she said. “And you know, it's something, especially with online gambling, you can do it in private, so no one can see you do it. It's very accessible. It might not be noticed by other people. They can't, kind of see it in your eyes or smell it on your breath like they could maybe alcohol or something.”
The data Reynolds gets also looks at consequences of sports gambling. Common repercussions among college students include not completing schoolwork, losing sleep and money and not going to class.
“Withdrawing from family and friends, not participating in things that they used to enjoy, doing activities that they did with others, maybe more, withdrawing into themselves,” she said.
To address the rise in sports gambling and the consequences that could come with it, Reynolds said colleges should increase awareness by providing information on the subject during new student orientation and in wellness programs. That can include teaching students what sports betting is and how it can become a problem.
“They could learn, if you do choose to gamble, legally, illegally, you know, how do you set limits, maybe on money, on time,” she said. “What are some things to watch out for when you might be getting into some risky behavior, how to step back from that? And then, of course, about all of the warning signs on when it's maybe really developed into a problem. And then what to do to get help … you know who to call or who to reach out to, and to feel like that you can without again, feeling shame.”
John Holden, associate professor in the department of business, law and ethics in the IU Kelley School of Business, said it’s hard to consistently enforce sports betting rules when the federal government doesn’t treat it as a priority. He thinks more resources could be devoted to mitigating sports gambling, but there’s only so much that universities can do.
“It's not really IU’s job to enforce that, they're not like the police,” he said. “So, I mean, if you wanted to, they could simply block these websites from the campus Wi-Fi; they could do that if they wanted to.”
Indiana University does not have any specific policy on sports betting available online; it only restates and abides by the NCAA’s policy that does not allow staff and student-athletes to wager on any sport that the NCAA sponsors. Other colleges across the state, such as Indiana State University and Notre Dame, also abide by general NCAA sports wagering rules.
But Purdue University has a more comprehensive sports wagering policy. It does not permit any of its faculty, staff, students and independent contractors from placing, accepting or soliciting a sports wager on any Purdue team, student athlete, coach or event. Even if the general public is legally allowed to sports wager on Purdue’s teams, the policy states that “Purdue’s culture and values often call university faculty, staff and students to a higher standard than what the law requires.”
The policy acknowledges that Purdue faculty, staff and students may have more access to information about the university’s teams and athletes that could impact the outcome of competitions.
“When all faculty, staff, students and independent contractors refrain from placing Sports Wagers on Purdue and its student-athletes and coaches, we, as a community: (i) reduce the potential for deceit and ill-gotten gain, (ii) demonstrate respect and support for our student-athletes and lessen the potential for any of them to feel compromised, self-conscious or inhibited in the ordinary course of their activities as students or athletes, and (iii) protect members of the University community from any inference of profiteering from inside information, exercising undue influence or other improper conduct,” the policy states.
IU’s athletic department is constantly educating student athletes on sports betting. Senior Associate Athletic Director Jeremy Gray said they talk about the subject at team orientation meetings and also have guest speakers from the Indiana Gaming Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Integrity Compliance 360.
“We send push notifications via text and email through a software that we have called Team Works before major sporting events like March Madness, the Super Bowl, huge international soccer competitions, things of that nature, reminding them that they cannot bet on it,” he said.
Gray said athletes will get an occasional direct message on social media from gamblers who claim they cost them money in a bet, but it’s pretty rare. In one instance, some tennis athletes got direct messages asking about whether they won a match before it was over.
To address any feelings of demotivation athletes may feel from getting these messages, Gray educates athletes about social media literacy and mental health services available. He also warns them about the consequences of sports betting in general.
“You are a public figure. You're going to be publicly scrutinized. People are going to say things that are not nice, that are not fair, that sometimes are cruel,” Gray said. “…And athletes are naturally very competitive people that I think we need to also talk about worst case scenarios, not even related to legal trouble or their eligibility concerns about the pitfalls from habitualized sports wagering, that you can lose your life savings. You can lose your marriage. You can lose your job if you do these types of things.”
With March Madness wrapping up, Gray is constantly reminding athletes and staff that betting is not allowed.
“We know athletes that are injured. We know those that are not going to play. We might know whether or not the game is going to be delayed,” he said. “I mean, we have that type of information, so we're not allowed to bet. So, I have a lot of friends who tell me about their March Madness brackets or their fantasy football leagues, and I just have to, you know, tell them, good luck. I cannot participate.”
Reynolds said she will conduct her next survey this fall, which will help her understand how sports betting is growing and what can be further done to address it.
“We're going to be watching sports betting closely, and again, working with our partners at the state and within the gaming industry itself and public health professionals to make sure that if we see some problems developing, different types of problems,” she said, “that we can work together to put different safeguards in place or measures to get information out to people and to help people.”
