TRENTON, New Jersey — Online sports betting generates new revenue for New Jersey but also raises concerns about gambling addiction and potential damage to the finances of Atlantic City casinos that rely on in-person gamblers, sportsbooks and problem gambling treatment agents.

The state legislature held a hearing to examine the impacts of online sports betting, where New Jersey is a national leader. His legal challenge to banning sports betting in all but four states resulted in a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing any state to offer them; 38 currently do so.

Testimony alternated between praising the industry’s economic benefits and worrying about its harmful potential.

“You can lose tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes just by picking up a cell phone,” said Felicia Grondin, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey.

More than 90% of sports betting is done online in New Jersey.

But Jeremy Kudon, president of the Sports Betting Alliance, pointed to the additional money and jobs that online sports betting has brought to the state. The group is made up of sports betting companies FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and Fanatics, which together hold 89% of the New Jersey sports betting market.

“It’s a tremendous economic success story,” he said. “Our industry employs more than 4,000 people in North Jersey alone. This is leading to an economic boom for the state.”

In the first nine months of this year, more than $9.2 billion was legally wagered on sports in New Jersey, $835 million of which was retained as revenue by casinos, racetracks and their online partners.

More than $105 million in online sports betting taxes were paid to the state during that time, with an additional $2.2 million coming from retail sports betting.

Sports betting money isn’t just for casinos. Like internet gaming money, it must be shared with outside parties, including technology platforms and sportsbooks.

Christina Renna, president of the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, said the additional jobs and revenue help the casinos. But she also noted that arcades’ core business — money earned from in-person players — has not rebounded to 2019 levels before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“These 22,000 casino jobs also need focus, care and attention,” she said.

Many speakers expressed concern about gambling addiction in New Jersey.

Grondin said 1 to 3 percent of adults nationally are problem gamblers; in New Jersey, that figure is 6 percent.

Since the New Jersey Supreme Court victory in 2018, calls to the agency’s 800-GAMBLER hotline have increased 277%, she said, many of them from young adults.

Lori Kalani, head of gaming at DraftKings, said her company and the industry as a whole take customer protection seriously. She said she grew up in Nevada in a family where gambling addiction was a problem.

“Online games are for fun and entertainment,” she said. “At DraftKings, we are committed to ensuring players play responsibly.”

Kalani said DraftKings has 60 employees dedicated to responsible gaming measures and regularly contacts customers whose betting behavior indicates a potential problem, offering assistance and, in serious cases, suspending or terminating their accounts.

Tim Buckley, senior vice president of the NCAA, has supported legislation pending in New Jersey that would ban betting on the statistical performance of college athletes to protect them from online harassment and threats.

He cited the case of University of North Carolina basketball player Armando Bacot, who said in March he received more than 100 direct messages from punters upset that he didn’t make enough rebounds during a particular match for their bets to win.

Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, said more than two-thirds of gamblers bet live during games.

“It’s down to the minute,” she said. “The odds change, it’s impulsive, it can be affected by alcohol consumption. Young people gamble a lot in gambling.”

She also said that 14 percent of New Jersey sports bettors reported having suicidal thoughts and 10 percent had actually attempted it.