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American Gaming Association (AGA) has just released new research findings. AGA’s new survey shows American support for legal sports betting has grown significantly since 2018’s federal ban lift.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller said via press release:
“American adults have always enjoyed betting on sports, and overwhelmingly value the ability to bring their action into a legal market, close to home. The rapid spread of legal sports betting—fueled by regulated, responsible entities—has contributed to communities and established consumer protections by migrating betting away from the illegal market monopoly that PASPA perpetuated.”
On behalf of the AGA, Heart+Mind Strategies conducted the online survey. Their sample included 1,066 general population adults and 1,005 sports bettors.
Almost 80% of online sports bets are through regulated US sportsbooks
Key findings of the AGA survey show that:
- 85% of Americans agree with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), compared to 63% in 2019
- 77% of US adults support legalization in their state of residence
- 39.2 million American adults have placed a traditional sports bet in the last 12 months
- 78% of players place all or most bets through regulated operators
- 77% of online sports bets went through regulated operators, compared to just 44% in 2019
$3 billion gambled went to state and local taxes
AGA says US players have legally gambled $220 billion nationwide since 2018. In doing so, they generated $3 billion in state and local taxes for:
- Education
- Healthcare
- Infrastructure
- Responsible Gambling
- Problem gambling resource funding
Miller added in the American Gaming Association’s press release:
“Five years post-PASPA, the AGA and our members continue to support responsibly expanding the legal market while cracking down on predatory illegal operators.
The regulated industry and our partners across the entire ecosystem—policymakers, law enforcement, regulators, leagues, media, technology providers and more—have made significant strides in our collaborative consumer education efforts since 2018, and we will continue to find new ways to enhance consumer protections as the market matures.”
Online sports betting still illegal in 40% of the US
Washington DC and 33 states currently offer legal sports betting and four additional legal markets are awaiting launch. That means more than half of American adults (57%, 141 million bettors) live in a live, legal sports betting market.
AGA research also shows that Americans gamble $64 billion annually using illegal operators. The figure is down from pre-PASPA estimates of $150 billion. Still, 40% of the market share robs states of $700 million in tax dollars annually.
When it comes to consumer awareness, AGA found that:
- Only 29% of American adults say they are unsure of the legality of online sportsbooks in their state, a 45% decrease since 2018.
- 70% of bettors who placed most of their bets with illegal operators believed they were betting either exclusively with legal sportsbooks or splitting their bets evenly between legal and illegal operators.
