The forecast: There will be 19.0 million online sports bettors in the US this year. That's 7.9% of adult US internet users and a 31.0% increase over 2021.
Dig deeper:
- The Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting in May 2018. Many states have since legalized online sports betting, but specific regulations vary considerably from state to state. Some states, including California and Texas, still prohibit online sports betting.
- While we're forecasting through 2023, the future of online sports betting has the potential to vary greatly as the legal landscape changes. This is an emerging market with little historical data to trend from, so it’s possible there will be unexpected volatility over the next couple of years.
- Legal online sports betting platforms are on the rise: Some of the most popular ones are FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Caesars.
Looking ahead: We anticipate strong growth in the number of online sports bettors as states legalize the practice and services continue to spend big bucks on marketing. By year-end 2023, the US will have 23.1 million legal online sports bettors.