The U.S. legal sports betting market is continuing to grow at an astounding rate.
For the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court authorized states outside of Nevada to offer regulated sports wagering in 2018, retail and online betting in America has surpassed a $100 billion handle for a calendar year. The historic mark was reached in 2023 behind a strong start to the year for betting operators as U.S. bettors wagered $79 billion in the first nine months of 2023 — a 33% increase compared to last year, per the American Gaming Association.
In comparison, the total sports betting handle in the U.S. for 2022 closed at $93.7 billion.
“Part of that is due to expansion into new markets that we didn’t have last year,” AGA vice president of research David Forman told Vegas Inc. “But part of it is also just a continuing maturation of existing markets that have only been online for a year or two at this point.”
The U.S. sports betting industry finished the year strong behind impressive results in Pennsylvania — America’s fourth-largest sports betting market. The Keystone State reported a record $934 million betting handle for November 2023 — up from a previous record of $829 million for the month prior. The U.S. sports betting industry also benefited from a slew of new jurisdictions that authorized sports wagering in 2023, which included Ohio and Massachusetts.
Maine has also recently launched online sports betting with retail wagering to come at a later date, while Florida began taking online wagers in November and retail bets earlier this month.
See also: 10 Predictions, Bold and Otherwise, About Sports Betting in 2024
Part of the bigger picture
Legal sports betting has helped bolster the U.S. commercial gaming industry, which saw gross gaming revenue reach $16.2 billion in Q3 2023 — a 6.7% increase year-over-year. The Q3 results marked the 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth for the gaming industry.
The U.S. gaming revenue also surpassed $5.6 billion in the month of October alone.
Slot gaming continued to lead the U.S. commercial gaming industry with revenue closing at $8.8 billion in Q3 2023. The third-quarter revenue was only a 1.7% increase compared to Q3 2022. Table gaming revenue hit $2.6 billion in Q3 2023, while iGaming revenue was $1.5 billion for the quarter, up 26% compared to the same period last year. As a result of the favorable growth, gaming operators paid around $3.44 billion in taxes to states and local governments in Q3 2023.
