Sports Betting: Risks & Ripple Effects Teach-Out

With sports betting posing new risks for students, University of Michigan Chief Health Officer Rob Ernst explains how a population health approach can guide harm prevention across campus.

Takeaways: Public Health and Harm Reduction on Campus

We have prepared a list of key points from the Public Health and Harm Reduction on Campus interview for your reference:

1. Campus health has shifted from siloed expertise to holistic well-being. Some colleges are shifting away from issue-specific specialists (e.g., alcohol or eating disorders) toward a generalist, whole-person approach that recognizes how mental health, substance use, financial stress, academic pressure, and behaviors like sports betting are interconnected. Effective prevention acknowledges that student behaviors do not occur in isolation and must be addressed within the broader ecosystem of campus life.

2. A population health framework guides effective prevention. Public health on campus rests on four core components: understanding who the population is, rigorously assessing its needs, designing systems that respond to those needs, and creating environments where health professionals can do sustainable, impactful work. Universities are uniquely positioned to do this well because they know their populations, collect rich data, and can implement coordinated, system-wide interventions.

3. Sports betting is an emerging issue that fits existing prevention systems. Problem gambling was not a significant campus concern two decades ago, but the rapid expansion of online sports betting has changed the risk landscape. Institutions with strong, flexible public health frameworks can respond to new challenges like sports betting without building entirely new programs by integrating gambling into existing wellness, prevention, and harm-reduction efforts.

4. Campus dynamics require intentional, systems-level attention. College environments are defined by close relationships among students, faculty, staff, and student-athletes. When gambling involves betting on student athletic performance, it introduces distinct ethical, social, and health risks. These dynamics require institutional—not just individual—responses that consider power, visibility, and community impact.

5. Health-promoting universities think upstream and build a continuum of care. Modern health promotion goes beyond clinical treatment to identify upstream drivers of distress and adjust systems, policies, and environments before harms escalate. Frameworks like the Okanagan Charter emphasize integrating health and well-being into institutional decision-making without compromising academic standards and rigor. Health-promoting campuses provide a continuum of care: universal resources for all, targeted support for those at elevated risk, and coordinated, intensive care and recovery support for those experiencing the greatest harm.

Reflection Questions

In your daily life, you may have one or more than one of the following roles. Think about the questions that we have posed here. How can you use the Public Health and Harm Reduction on Campus interview to respond to these questions?

• Public health professionals:
  • How does a population health lens change the way you think about responsibility for student risk: individual choice versus institutional design?
• Young adult casual bettors:
  • How do campus norms and systems influence what feels “normal” or low-risk when it comes to sports betting?
  • Issues like gambling can affect finances, relationships, and well-being all at once. Does thinking about betting as connected to multiple parts of your life change how you might evaluate your own habits?
• High school athletics professional:
  • What systems and policies could you propose at your school to address sports betting as an emerging issue before it becomes a crisis? Who might be your nontraditional partners in this work?
• Parent or guardian:
  • How could the concept of “upstream thinking” help you have a proactive conversation with your son about sports betting rather than waiting until you see warning signs?
• Athlete:
  • What responsibilities do universities have to protect athletes’ well-being when betting culture directly intersects with their performance and visibility?
• Higher education professional:
  • How can existing alcohol and mental health prevention frameworks be adapted to address sports betting without creating entirely new programs?

Additional Resources

1. International Health Promoting Campuses Network
2. Okanagan Charter
3. Limerick Framework for Action