Online sports gambling continues to surge in the United States, with the amount wagered having jumped 98% from 2021 to 2022 according to a Variety Intelligence Platform report.
Comparing year-over-year data measured from January to October, the spikes are just as noticeable. According to Variety, $3.1 billion was wagered nationwide in 2019, $11 billion in 2020, $37.1 billion in 2021, and $73.3 billion in 2022.
The 2022 figure represents a 98% increase from 2021, and a 569% increase from 2020.
Counting the incomplete data for November, almost $80 billion has been wagered thus far in 2022, with at least $6.3 billion placed in bets nationwide.
Online sports gambling is currently legal in 25 states plus D.C., with Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New York, and Maryland having launched in 2022. Massachusetts and Ohio will both launch in 2023, and Maine has legalized the practice but has yet to determine a launch date.
The wagering totals measured by authorities where mobile sports betting is legal count both the bettors’ investments and the amount they stand to win if the bet covers. For example, if $50 is placed and stands to win another $50, then it counts as $100 wagered.
The Variety Intelligence Platform (VIP+) study compared online sports betting data from 2019 to 2022, and found that the industry’s growth has been meteoric.
In 2019, according to Variety, over $687 million was wagered in October, jumping to $2.5 billion in that month 2020, $6.5 billion in 2021, and $8.9 billion in 2022 (excluding Arizona, which did not publish its data on time, and Maryland, where mobile betting did not launch until November).
The addition of New York added the biggest boost to the mobile sports gambling industry, coming in with the most wagered nationwide at $13 billion, according to the VIP+ study. New Jersey came in second, with $8.1 billion.
Other populous states like Texas have yet to legalize it; California voters decided against legalization in the 2022 elections; and legal issues pertaining to tribal gaming have left mobile sports betting in limbo in Florida, according to the VIP+ study.
