What’s the point of publishing predictions for the year ahead? For provocative content creators, it’s about sticking a feather in their respective caps at the end of the following annum with a “Told You So!” scrolled above the brim. Others want to be seen as thought leaders who are laying the foundation for insightful discourse in their field, before their peers get the chance to do so. There’s nothing wrong with either.
As 2025 comes to a close and 2026 unfolds, stakeholders from within the casino gaming and sports betting industry join in on the annual hortative. As a leading voice in responsible gaming awareness, Kindbridge is beholden to weigh in with our own gambling industry predictions, but from a mental health perspective. Our motivation, however, is different than that of most others in the gaming space. It is driven by hope, hope that our forecasts for 2026 are used as a touchstone from which lawmakers, regulators, and operators (and others) carve out their responsible gaming strategies and do more to foster healthier gambling consumer bases. In other words, we hope that our predictions (some of which are bold) become self-fulfilling prophecies. Read ahead accordingly.
5 Bold Gambling Industry Predictions that Support Responsible Gaming in 2026 (and beyond)
I. Prediction Markets Pump Brakes to Catch Up with Responsible Gaming
The meteoric rise of prediction markets headlined the 2025 Gambling Awareness Year in Review (read here). In a matter of months, operators went from winning a legal battle after being contested by the CFTC for offering actionable betting options on the previous year’s U.S. presidential election (from which they earned billions in revenue), to winning a series of legal challenges levied by gambling regulators after launching a sports trading product, to having the very same product adopted by America’s leading online sportsbooks via partnership agreements at the end of the annum.
Such speed of growth in the gambling (or gambling adjacent) industry is unprecedented.
While prediction market operators (and their investors) may be tempted to celebrate these successes as they enter 2026, we suspect them to pump their brakes with respect to new offerings. They will do so as governing bodies look closely at whether or not new regulations (via federal intervention) are required to address state regulator insistence that what they are offering is a pure gambling product. To get ahead of this, these operators will invest heavily in member-health programs that resemble Responsible Gaming initiatives, even if what they offer is not legally considered gambling. One might recall that top prediction market operators did not have member self-exclusion programs in place until the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2025. Only when they started offering a sports trading product did they so do, a move that was likely in anticipation of close monitoring by regulatory bodies. Now that their product is a supplementary offering through popular sports betting apps, prediction market operators will go all-in on mental health support programs for members. Even if it’s done to stave off pressure from federal watchdogs, there will be a net-positive for their member base.
II. Sweepstakes Casinos Find Salvation Through Reclassification
At the federal level, online sweepstakes casinos fall under the oversight of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They are not subject to audits and other regulatory oversights by state gambling regulators as traditional operators are. This is because they claim to not offer a “real money” casino product, even though they do contain a real money element. Speculation over the latter had state gambling regulators and other Responsible Gaming watchdogs up in arms in 2025. After waves of Cease & Desist letters, other legal challenges, and outright bans from certain states, a half-dozen sweepstakes operators had shut down by the end of the year. While some experts suggest that this signals the end of sweepstakes casinos, their recent inclusion at the 2025 National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) winter meeting in Puerto Rico (view here) evidenced a willingness among sweepstakes operators to do whatever it takes to find their place in the regulated gaming landscape.
We predict this to manifest in the form of reclassification as a gambling product in some shape or form. Google had already made this move on their behalf (albeit to operator detriment) when in November of 2025 the search giant quietly reclassified sweepstakes casinos as gambling under its global advertising policies, closing a loophole that previously allowed the controversial model to promote itself under the “social casino games” category.
While reclassification appears to be a negative for the sweepstakes industry, some analysts suggest a regulatory framework (reclassifying them as a legitimate, licensed tier of iGaming) could stabilize the industry. Advocates are pushing for a federal or unified state-level framework that includes licensing and mandatory reporting to provide legal certainty. Some lawmakers may favor formalizing and taxing the industry rather than banning it, similar to the path taken by Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). 2026 is the year for a major move towards reclassification to happen. It may be a scary prospect for sweepstakes operators, but it may be their only salvation. And from a public health perspective, it could a net positive because an outright ban may send players to the far more dangerous unregulated market.
III. Increased Investment in ai for Problem Gambling Prevention
In 2025, ai became a core technology in online casino gaming and sports betting. It was used by operators to maximize profits, and was also used by tech-smart players attempting to gain a statistical edge (albeit irrationally). The industry now utilizes ai for high-speed data analysis, real-time behavioral tracking, and personalized engagement strategies. While this won’t cease, operators also realize that in order to abide by increased calls to do better from a Responsible Gaming and player health perspective, they will need to leverage ai to as a vessel for problem gambling prevention.
We predict an exponential increase in financial investment (100% or greater) in ai used specifically to identify, monitor, and intervene in potentially harmful gambling behaviors in real-time. This shifts the responsibility from the player self-identifying a problem to the operator’s systems detecting risk factors.
IV. Financial Services Step Up to Protect Public
Look for financial institutions and related service providers to become key stakeholders in protecting public health as it applies to gambling. In 2025, a significant number of Americans accumulated substantial debt due to gambling. The continued growth of mobile sports betting, in particular, has exacerbated this trend, fueled by the advent of microtransactions which promotes impulsive spending practices (view more).
Why should financial institutions and related service providers care? Financial services generally perform better when consumers have healthy finances. When consumers are financially healthy, they are more likely to use a wider range of financial products and services, leading to greater profitability for financial institutions.
In 2026, American financial institutions will increase investment to protect clients from gambling-related harm by offering a combination of transaction blocking tools, using data analytics to identify at-risk customers, and providing proactive support and financial education. The most holistic-thinking among them will create programs that connect clients to problem gambling counseling providers.
V. Sports Leagues Add Gambling Testing to Collective Bargaining Agreements
The list of professional athletes suspended for gambling (view here) since the federal ban on sports betting was removed in 2018 has grown, despite there being clear league policies against the practice in place. The Q4 2025 National Basketball Association (NBA) gambling scandal highlighted the fact that policies are not enough.
What more can be done?
We boldly predict that the big leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS) will take a page from their drug testing programs, which are a standard and mandatory part of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), and integrate tests for problematic gambling behavior.
Of course, gambling is not a substance that can detected in bodily samples. What we mean by “testing” in this instance, is in reference to assessments that check for distinct vulnerabilities to problem gambling behavior. In 2026, leagues will require that athletes, especially those entering from the NCAA and other developmental organizations, undergo assessments to identify if they are more at-risk than others, and where evident, will initiate more proactive support and continuing education. This will be a welcome addition to player health programs and is one that will also protect league and sports integrity.
Decision-making stakeholders who are interested in taking advantage of Kindbridge Behavioral Health’s expertise in problem gambling research and treatment are encouraged to reach out to ask about custom programs. Click to call to start the conversation.
