U.S. Sports Betting Pulled $10.9 Billion in Revenue Last Year

The U.S. sports betting industry pulled in revenues of $10.9 billion last year, a nearly 45 percent increase from the previous year.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) annual report showed that $120 billion was wagered last year, a 30 percent increase from 2022. Per USA Today Sports:

In 2022, the American sports betting industry took in $7.5 billion in revenue and slightly more than $93 billion was wagered, according to the AGA.

The AGA reported the overall growth in sports betting revenue was “largely fueled by continued maturation across most existing markets as well as several new markets, particularly in Massachusetts and Ohio.’’

Last year, Ohio made almost $937 million and Massachusetts took in $483 million, according to the AGA.

The top state for sports betting remains New York, pulling in $1.7 billion in revenue last year, followed by New Jersey and Illinois, which both pulled in $1 billion. The state of Nevada ranked 10th with $480 million from sports betting.

“For overall gaming, Nevada is still the largest market. For sports betting, states with broader mobile options come in higher,” said Cait DeBaun, the AGA’s Vice President of Strategic Communications & Responsibility.

As Breitbart News reported, a new study recently showed that the gambling boom in the state of New Jersey has been hurting the state’s economy. Last year, sports betting and internet gambling set new records in the Garden State, earning more than $171.5 million in revenue from online table games and slot machines. In comparison, the casinos and horse tracks took an estimated $1.62 billion in horse betting revenue. Despite the impressive gains, new research shows that the upside has just as steep a downside.

“New Jersey, which led the charge for mobile sports betting’s legalization, has received hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from the sector. But economists cautioned that the cost of higher problem gambling rates could be ‘roughly equal’ to the state’s takings,” reported The Guardian.

New Jersey’s digital gambling surge has also seen a drop in jobs and wages, with the Campaign for Fairer Gambling finding that the $2.4 billion spent in gambling led to a $180 million decrease in New Jersey’s economic activity. The study discovered that the money would have been better spent on other economic activities like shopping or dining, leading to an increase in wages that could have been spent in other parts of the state’s economy.

“The online gambling sector paid some $110m in wages to New Jersey employees in 2022, according to NERA, generating $22m in new spending across the state’s economy. Had another recreational activity attracted the same $2.4bn, NERA projected this would have led to about $1bn in wages, generating $200m in new spending,” noted The Guardian.

The study’s findings will likely lead to intense scrutiny of legalized gambling proposals in other parts of the country.

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.