Posted on: 14/10/2024, 05:30h.
Last updated on: 11/10/2024, 03:34h.
Klaus Zimmermann
In the USA, sales from sports betting providers exceeded the USD 400 billion mark last week. A good six years after its legalization, the gambling sector has developed into one of the most important pillars in the industry.
Sports betting is flourishing in the USA (Images: Pixabay)
Probably only the boldest optimists assumed in May 2018 that Sports betting sector would generate such sales in the USA in just a few years. At that time, the US Supreme Court overturned the ban on sports betting that had been in effect until then.
Since then, the industry has experienced unprecedented growth, which was only temporarily halted by the corona pandemic. In addition to the wide availability of terrestrial betting offices in casinos and a booming online market, increasing legalization is a decisive factor in the sales rally.
While sports betting was initially hesitantly legalized in individual states, the business was allowed in more and more regions of the country in the following years. Sports betting is now permitted in 38 states and Washington DC.
With sports betting sales of USD 53.8 billion, New Jersey leads the rankings in the USA. New York follows closely behind with USD 49.6 billion, where the business was only legalized in April 2021.
Nevada (42.4), Illinois (37.6) and Pennsylvania (31.5) also achieved revenues of over USD 30 billion. Overall, the two heavyweights on the US East Coast account for over 55% of all revenue generated by the industry since its legalization.
No end to growth in sight
The industry data shows a clear trend. While only 1.15 and 3.28% of all previous sales were generated in 2018 and 2019, in 2023 and 2024 the figures were 30.27 and 22.04%, respectively.
The upward trend is also evident when looking at the bookmakers’ highest-turnover months. The list of the ten highest-grossing months includes five months each from this year and last year. Since the traditionally high-turnover months of September to December of this year do not yet appear in the ranking, the number of mentions from 2024 is likely to increase even further by the end of the year.
Currently, all indications are that gaming companies are expecting another record year for sports betting revenue in the United States. A weakening of the trend is also hardly foreseeable.
Bookmakers’ businesses have not yet been legalized in populous states such as California and Texas. However, many lobby groups are working to change this. This means that breaking the next magical sales threshold of USD 500 billion is only a matter of time.
