I'm not, but I think while the majority of UK men "follow" football and support teams, most are not going to games, most are not watching every game from their team, and I'd guess most are not betting. I have plenty of family members who would consider themselves into football and happily have conversations about it, but who I haven't heard mention betting on it.

From the way you pepper this and other comments with 'I think' or 'I guess', I am getting the idea that you are not in touch with this issue at all. You don't know anyone who gambles, it's a demographic thing, so it's not a big deal.

Gambling is a very big deal in the UK. 40% of the population gambles on non-lottery at least once a year, 27% have done so in the last 4 weeks. 0.5% are problem gamblers and 7% have been affected by someone else's gambling. (all stats from Govt gambling harms review)

The highest-paid person in the UK is the head of a betting company. MPs are openly (Benton) and quietly selling themselves to the industy, who have succeeded in delaying reviews and watering down rules.

The parent post to yours is quite right to say that the US will inherit all of our problems in this area (if anything it will be worse) and I'm not sure you have the information to wave it away as you did.

I don't think we're disagreeing much here. I'm not surprised that 27% of the UK are regular gamblers, my point is that it's not that evenly spread throughout the population. As you said, it's a demographic thing (although I'm trying hard not to target and demonise a particular group here).

My point is not that it's uncommon, but rather that it is very much not a feature of UK life or a defining part of culture for many people, perhaps a majority. We have a big problem with it in aggregate, but the coverage would suggest that this is something that everyone in the UK feels a part of, and that's just not the case.

The coverage of the US situation seems to suggest that the demographic split is quite different – that it's perhaps a younger crowd and perhaps not tracking so much with socio-economic status, where the UK mostly skews in different ways. There are similarities like our lotteries though. I think the US will get worse as they deregulate, although I suspect as it's in some ways a newer industry there it'll probably look a little different to ours. The problems will be the same though.

No, you said it's a demographic thing. I've read the data and I know it isn't. The highest rates of participation are among people who have higher academic qualifications, are employed, and are among relatively less deprived groups.

Anyone can become a problem gambler and, just as with other drugs, they become a problem for the rest of us.