Fintech Takes: Gambling, Finance, and the Fallout

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May 28, 2025

In this insightful discussion, Alex DeMarco, Founder and CEO of MoneyStack, sheds light on the urgent financial crisis posed by gambling addiction. He explores the dramatic rise of mobile sports betting and its staggering revenue, with alarming rates of addiction affecting many. DeMarco connects gambling tactics to fintech models, revealing how both employ addictive engagement strategies. He emphasizes the need for proactive financial interventions and the role of banks in addressing this overlooked issue, advocating for a collective approach to promote financial wellness.

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INSIGHT

Mobile Sports Betting Boom

Online sports betting revenue hit about $72 billion last year, driven largely by mobile access and app engagement. - New Jersey, an early adopter, shows double the national rate of moderate to severe gambling issues.

INSIGHT

Sophisticated Gambling App Tactics

Mobile sports betting apps use data-driven engagement tactics, including AI-driven nudges and human VIP hosts. - These tactics target frequent gamblers to maximize betting volume and revenue.

INSIGHT

Mobile Sportsbooks' Profit Advantage

Mobile sportsbooks retain structural holds around 14%, nearly triple Nevada's in-person rate of 5.6%. - Gamified betting formats like parlays increase excitement but lower winning odds, driving losses for most players.

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Welcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m your host, Alex Johnson, and today we’re digging into one of the most urgent (and underdiscussed) financial issues in America: gambling. My guest is Alex DeMarco, founder and CEO of MoneyStack, who’s helping reframe gambling addiction not just as a behavioral health issue, but as a financial systems crisis.

Since 2018, when the Supreme Court cracked open the door to state-by-state legalization of mobile sports betting, we’ve seen a gold rush in gambling. Operators are now pulling in more than $70B annually (ads are everywhere, the apps are engineered for nonstop engagement, and the harm is rising fast). In NJ, one of the first states to legalize, 6% of adults are already experiencing moderate to severe gambling-related issues (double the national average).

We connect the dots between gambling and familiar fintech business models: the same behavioral nudges, same VIP economics, the same revenue dependence on a vulnerable sliver of power users. If overdraft fees and gamified trading feel predatory, this is that (but on steroids).

We unpack:

Why sports betting apps now hold three times more per wager than old-school sportsbooks
How engagement tactics mimic (and often outstrip) the most addictive elements of gamified finance
Why we’re watching investing and gambling blur into one screen (and one behavior)
What proactive financial intervention might look like, and why most help comes too late
How banks and fintechs can step up (detecting risk early, training advisors, and supporting families in recovery)

We close with this big question: when gambling is mobile, funded from a checking account, and styled like Robinhood … can the financial industry really say it’s not their problem?

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Follow Alex (DeMarco):

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexdemarco/

MoneyStack: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moneystack/

Follow Alex (Johnson):

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson