Most Americans born between 1997 and 2012 (Gen Z), are gambling on casino, sportsbooks and sweepstakes platforms with greater frequency than any other generation especially the Boomers. Gen Z represents the largest group of people that have been identified by age as being responsible for the continued expansion of the... Show more
| Metric | Gen Z (Ages 21-28) | Boomers (Ages 61-79) |
| Avg. Monthly Spend on Gambling | $187.00 | $142.00 |
| Primary Gaming Platform | Mobile sportsbook / sweepstakes | Land-based casino / lottery |
| Percent of Gamblers Online | 61% | 22% |
| Sweepstakes Casino Adoption | 38% | 9% |
| Sports Betting Participation | 48% | 14% |
| Preferred Games / Formats | Slots, parlays, live dealer | Slots, bingo, lottery |
| YoY Spend Change (2025-2026) | +34% | -3% |
The transition to online gaming wasn’t immediate. Three factors were trending together as they affected the rapid progression of gaming into 2024-25 and eventually beyond that toward its tipping-point in 2026.
Gambling spend among gen-z is primarily concentrated across three areas; each category has seen double digit growth year over year.
| Platform Type | Share of Gen Z Gambling Spend | YoY Growth |
| Mobile Sportsbooks | 36% | +28% |
| Sweepstakes Casinos | 24% | +51% |
| Online Casinos (legal states) | 19% | +33% |
| Prediction Markets / DFS | 12% | +61% |
| Land-Based Casinos | 6% | -4% |
| Lottery | 3% | -9% |
To clarify: Baby Boomers aren’t leaving the gaming space. Boomers make up nearly half (nearly 50%) of all adult buyers of lottery tickets annually; they represent the primary market base for land-based slot floor activity; and they continue to be the primary daytime demographic for tribal casino operations throughout the United States. While there may be some decline in spending from Boomers, it’s really about relative decline.
As the gaming category has grown by a large margin during this period, the number of Boomers participating at various levels of spend and their percentage share of total spend has declined slightly. Where Boomers’ participation has been more resilient than anticipated is at higher stakes table games and slots on a land-based basis. Spending per visit at these products continues to exceed that of other age groups. The problem for operators going forward will be that Boomers are visiting less often due to changes in their mobility and health status; and the pipeline of new older gamers entering the gaming market to replace those exiting is significantly smaller than the pipeline of new young adult gamers who are entering the market.
The spending crossover will come with a responsible gambling aspect the industry can’t ignore.
Several state regulators are already identifying these trends. In several states legislative discussions regarding iGaming expansion in 2026 and beyond are focused more heavily on mandating responsible gaming tools (such as limit setting) and advertising limitations near college campus locations. A number of sweepstakes platforms have implemented artificial intelligence (AI)-based player tracking to monitor gambling behaviors, which includes prompting players to establish limits themselves. According to the platform operators, this type of self-imposed limit setting appears to be used by younger gamblers at higher rates than other age groups.
The move away from an older demographic of gamers has caused companies in the gaming space to reassess how they operate. Companies are now changing the way they produce products, market those products, and deliver new technologies based upon what young adults want.
Operators are now prioritizing shorter game cycles, in-session tournaments, leaderboards, and chat functionality when it comes to sports books and sweepstakes platforms designed for younger players. The use of the sweepstakes tournament style has been exploding since 2025 and 2026 as younger players’ preference for competitive and community-style play was realized by platforms; these elements drive player retention better than just bonus coins falling into players accounts.
Young adult gamblers are willing to wait little to no time for withdrawal. Fast payouts using PayPal, Venmo, or cryptocurrency have become a necessity to win the younger gamer’s wallet. Most operators who experienced strong Gen Z growth during 2026 cited fast payouts as one of the top reasons why customers exited in exit surveys.
Gaming companies are paying to advertise on podcasts, partner with popular streamers, add Tik Tok advertising campaigns, and partner with athletes/influencers to grow their brand with Gen Z. Gaming companies that were able to position themselves inside the mediums Gen Z uses daily (i.e., podcast ads) and not interrupting the medium they consume daily (traditional television/radio ads) are experiencing some of the most rapid growth among this group.
| Focus Area | Boomer-Era Approach | Gen Z-Optimized Approach |
| Acquisition Channel | TV, Print, Land-Based Floor | Streaming, Influencer, Social |
| Product Format | Long Sessions, Loyalty Tiers | Fast Cycles, Leaderboards, Tournaments |
| Payments | Check, ACH, Card | Instant PayPal, Crypto, Venmo |
| Responsible Gaming | Opt-In Self-Exclusion | AI Monitoring, In-Session Prompts |
| Sweepstakes Investment | Low Priority | Core Growth Channel |
The generational spending crossover represents an inevitable demographic trend: Generation Z is the largest currently living generation within the U.S., and this cohort has yet to mature fully into its prime earning years. Over the course of the next ten (10) years, Gen-Z’s “gambling wallet” is expected to be significantly larger than it is today. Those operators who have developed strong brand equity with Gen Z now, are preparing themselves for substantial long term share of a cohort that will ultimately define the industry throughout the 2030s.
Boomers have a different outlook. While continued participation in both land-based casinos, and the lottery markets appear probable; there does not seem to be much hope for reversing the structural decline in their share of total gambling spend. For those platforms which have grown their entire business based upon the boomer customer profile, they will either need to develop new younger audiences, or begin to manage a gradual decline in their addressable market.
By the end of 2026, the total gross revenue for the U.S. commercial gaming market is expected to surpass $67 Billion. Increasing portions of that number are coming from customers who are discovering how to gamble using their smartphone. This shift is now officially underway and the face of the industry will never again be the same. Sweepspulse.com will continue to track the changing demographics and trends as they relate to each age group, and the potential impact of these trends on Sweepstakes and iGaming platforms.
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