Sports betting’s $100 billion barrier is just the beginning.
Americans wagered $79 billion in the first nine months of this year, up nearly 33% from the previous year, thanks to the growing legalization of both in-person and online sports betting nationwide, according to a recent report by the American Gaming Association.
According to AGA vice president of research David Forman, that number will only rise over the coming years. By year’s end, he predicted, Americans will have legally wagered over $100 billion on sports for the first time ever.
Forman stated that sports betting generated over $7 billion in revenue for the commercial sector through the third quarter, up 53% from the previous year. “Part of that is due to expansion into new markets that we didn’t have last year,” Forman said. However, a portion of it is also simply the ongoing development of already-existing markets, many of which have only been active for a year or two.
The latest states to legalize sports betting were Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Ohio, which drove most of the growth, according to an AGA news release.
Fans of gambling and sports have always found sports betting to be intriguing. Since the Supreme Court’s 2017 ruling, which essentially gave states the power to decide whether or not to legalize sports betting, sports betting has become more accessible.
“Betting on sports with a local bookie or an offshore website has become more popular. Now, consumers can shift that business to legal U.S. sportsbooks, where they will have a certain level of consumer protection that the offshore books cannot provide,” he stated. “And have greater confidence that they will receive payment at the end of the day.”
Given the significant additional revenue generated by legal sports wagering, it is difficult for many states to reject the idea, according to Jay Kornegay, executive vice president of Westgate’s SuperBook, who also noted that the popularity of sports betting is at a “all-time high.”
He claimed that since sports have always been popular in America, sports betting’s widespread legalization in dozens of states has primarily served as a new source of entertainment for citizens.
He declared, “Sports wagering has emerged as a new source of entertainment for sports fans.” “Now that legal, regulated wagering on athletic events is possible, it offers them an additional form of entertainment.”
There’s still a long way to go before sports betting’s growth plateaus, according to Kornegay, as the industry gains traction. The AGA report shows that the industry ultimately brought in $2.15 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up almost 23% year-over-year.
It is anticipated that more states will accept legalized sports betting as a revenue stream because it is advantageous.
“I therefore expect that the current growth will continue for the next five to ten years at the very least,” he stated. And after that, I believe it will continue to provide the states with a steady stream of income. It seems improbable to me that it would decline after it hits that point.
Although sports betting has brought in billions of dollars this year, it’s crucial to keep in mind that it represents a very tiny portion of the overall gaming market, according to Forman. The “bread and butter” of the industry is still slots and table games, as well as casinos in general.
For the foreseeable future, however, it will be interesting to monitor the expansion of sports betting.
“There are still a few very large markets out there that haven’t fully gone online or haven’t legalized yet—the most notable ones being Florida, Texas, and California,” Forman stated. “There are some really good markets out there that aren’t legal yet, so I think those will continue to grow and mature along with the markets that have only been online for a year or two.”
