Bank of America: Online Bettors Recover Just 75 Cents For Every Dollar
Customers are getting back less than 75 cents for every dollar they put into online betting platforms on average, according to new Bank of America Institute research published in September 2026, even as the number of people trying online betting for the first time has more than tripled since January.
The Institute's analysis, written by Taylor Bowley and based on Bank of America's consumer account data, tracked money moving into and out of online betting platforms throughout 2026. It found the cash recovery ratio, what customers get back relative to what they put in, has stayed below 1 for the entire period studied, with total inflows averaging less than three-quarters of total outflows.
"Our analysis found the online betting cash recovery ratio has remained below 1, with total inflows less than three-quarters of total outflows on average for the duration of the series," Bowley wrote. "In other words, customers typically recover less than 75 cents for every dollar transferred to online betting platforms."
Adoption Is Rising Among Younger Bettors
The report ties the trend to a sharp rise in adoption. First-time online betting users in June and July were more than three times the number recorded in January, and Bank of America found Gen Z and Millennials accounted for 88% of all online betting activity in July.
Households that bet online also carry less of a financial cushion than those that do not: the Institute found the median deposit account balance among betting households in 2026 was just 59% of the balance held by non-betting households.
Small Number Of Bettors Turn A Profit
The bank did not rule out bettors making money from the activity altogether, but its numbers are stark: only about 3% to 5% of sports bettors turn a profit.
No generation, including the youngest, came close to breaking even. Gen Z posted the best recovery ratio of any age group, at roughly $0.82 on the dollar, but Bowley noted that “despite seemingly recovering more than older generations, total inflows remained substantially below total outflows, suggesting that online betting is not a reliable or constant source of income” even for that group.
More See Betting As Investment
The Institute also surveyed attitudes toward betting rather than just transaction data. It found 20% of respondents view sports betting as a form of investment, a share that rises to roughly double among Gen Z. Baby Boomers and Gen X, by contrast, remain far more skeptical, with little appetite for treating betting as anything other than entertainment.
Bank of America Institute frames the findings as a caution against prediction and sports betting apps increasingly being marketed, or perceived, as income-generating activities rather than leisure spending, at a time when both sectors are expanding rapidly among younger US consumers.
Prediction Markets Add To The Blur
The Institute's own survey found that prediction markets, contracts that let users trade on the outcome of anything from elections to economic data, are seen as even more investment-like than straightforward sports bets across every generation surveyed.
Combined with the rapid growth both categories have seen through 2026, Bank of America says that blurring is becoming a bigger factor in how consumers frame their own spending, whether they are actually turning a profit or not.
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