Communicated Content – The legalization of sports betting is changing the USA in a lot of ways, and it’s just getting started. New online gambling laws have boosted many state economies by introducing brand new industries. They’ve also posed some interesting questions about the laws themselves, as new considerations must be taken for the internet side of gambling. There’s also the matter of Native American tribes that have traditionally controlled gambling in the US. A lot of news is being introduced in a relatively short time thanks to sports betting legalization.
Where We Stand Now
The sports betting legalization push started with a law called PASPA. PASPA was a prohibition on sports betting and gambling that forbade gambling outside of casinos, with sports betting only being allowed inside Las Vegas. PASPA had been around for decades, and a different law made it so any gambling that was allowed had to take place on tribal lands. In 2018, the Supreme Court repealed PASPA but kept the laws surrounding tribal casinos. Without PASPA, states are now free to decide on gambling laws for themselves. Several states seized on the chance right away, passing measures to legalize online gambling and sports betting.
The online aspect of gambling makes it available to people all over a given state. It also allows platforms new ways to present gambling and attract customers. One such idea is promo codes, which reward new signups with freebies or bonus incentives. It mirrors the way subscription services attract customers and isn’t something casinos widely do. Having gambling available 24/7 on apps makes it appealing in the way smartphone games manage to capture audiences with habit-forming availability. These ideas are working: reports show an increase in sports betting from Super Bowl 2021 to Super Bowl 2022.
The amazing amount of revenue generated by sports betting after its legalization has led to more states putting forth measures to allow it. Currently, the majority of US states have legalized sports betting. The only ones that have yet to get measures passed are Alaska, Idaho, California, Utah, Minnesota, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. Of those, only Utah is completely uninterested in pursuing sports betting legalization.
Revenue Is Way Up
States that have legalized sports betting are clearly winning, as the revenue numbers are off the charts. While most go to the casinos, the state still takes a hefty portion of taxes. In New York, this is paying off big time. New York Sports Betting has barely been around two months and has already brought in over a billion in revenue. A big contributor is the big city of NYC, with its millions in population.
Yet even states without massive cities like Michigan and Pennsylvania, make millions a month in sports betting revenue. It goes to show that a state doesn’t need to be big or even have a large casino presence. In fact, most of NY’s casinos are upstate. The sports betting success seen in NY is helped by the lack of casinos–NYC residents are making heavy use of sportsbook apps in the absence of nearby casinos.
Projections For Sports Betting
Sports betting should continue to grow as more states legalize it this year. Sports betting companies are already in talks to expand by building betting stations inside major stadiums. Another trend to keep an eye on is Ontario, Canada’s sports betting initiative, which may include esports, awards shows, and political outcomes on its betting lists. Branching out into other events might be a direction the US companies seek to take, and they could lobby lawmakers for in the coming year.
