Sports Betting Is Everywhere

In November 2025, NGPF surveyed more than 1,000 teachers across the country, and 83 percent reported recently observing or hearing of their students participating in online gambling or sports betting. Sports betting is now legal in 39 states and Washington, D.C., and as Christian noted in Tracking Sports Betting Legalization, the rollout has far outpaced personal finance education. Your students are seeing the ads, downloading the apps, and talking about parlays in the hallway. We owe them the context to make sense of it all.

Hear From the Expert

Last Thursday, we sat down with historian Jonathan D. Cohen, author of Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling, for an NGPF Speaker Series on the cultural, political, and financial ripples of America's gambling boom. Here's a clip:

More than 95 percent of attendees said they would recommend the session to a colleague, and the biggest takeaway was Cohen's framing on how to actually have this conversation with students, without turning the stats into a challenge they think they can beat. The full conversation will land on the NGPF Podcast soon, so keep an eye on the feed.

Join Us Live on May the 4th

Join us for The Sports Betting Boom: A Mini Unit in Action (Monday, May 4, 2026, at 3:00 PM PT) where we'll unpack surprising stats, trace a quick history of sports betting, break down how it works, and walk through NGPF's Sports Betting Mini-Unit.

Learn at Your Own Pace

Can't make the live session? Two On-Demand modules have you covered, and each earns one NGPF Academy Credit: The Sports Betting Boom: A one-hour look at the statistics, history, mechanics, and pitfalls of sports betting, plus teaching resources for you and your students. Emerging Trends in Teen Finance: A tour of four current topics shaping how young people think about money: fraud, gambling, cryptocurrency, and adulting.

Take It Straight to Your Classroom

The Gambling and Sports Betting Mini-Unit gives you four ready-to-teach lessons along with activities on house edge math and advertising analysis, a Gambling vs. Investing case study, FinCap Fridays, and Questions of the Day. Need something right away? This past week's FinCap Friday: Ready, Set, Bet? tackles prediction market apps, a topic that came up again and again in the Speaker Series chat.

Whether you join us live on May 4, work through an On-Demand module on your own time, or pull lessons straight from the mini-unit this week, we've got you covered.

See you at PD, the odds are in your favor.

About the Author

Albert Perez

As NGPF's Professional Development Program Manager, Albert leads Professional Development, works with school districts, and supports the implementation of NGPF's personal finance curriculum.

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