Americans Spend $27 Billion on Online Betting as U.S. Market Nears $40 Billion Forecast

If you’re searching for a word to describe the rise and rise of online betting in the US it would have to be meteoric. In just a couple of decades it has gone from ground zero to generating a revenue of around $27 billion a year – and it’s set to go even more stratospheric. Many observers believe that within the next few years the figure is likely to be around $40 billion a year by 2029 with millions of Americans indulging in the activity.

The figures, which encompass both sports betting and online casinos, have been driven by a several factors which we will start to examine shortly. The growth of the sector is important for a number of groups ranging from the operators of the casinos and sportsbooks to the regulators given the responsibility of overseeing and ensuring fair play.

Local gradually becomes national

Whether online betting is permitted is currently decided on a state-by-state basis and, as of April 202, around 30 states allow sportsbooks to operate and eight permit casinos.

Most people agree that the tipping point came back in 2018 when the Supreme Court decided, by a majority vote, to allow sports betting to take place. Some states, like New Jersey who had been instrumental in campaigning for the law change, were quick to adopt it. Others gradually followed.

There has been a slight lag when it comes to online casinos but New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan and Nevada currently allow them (although the home of Vegas only permits online poker sites). Maine and Wisconsin have also approved online casinos in principal and New York is expected to in the not too distant future.

One state that has surprised some by its reticence to allow online betting is Florida which currently has no plans to change the situation. In the states that do allow online casinos a great many have started to operate, so many that it can be hard for players to keep up with them. Fortunately there have also been a number of review sites that have come online which help them to keep track so all a would-be players need to do is visit website to get full, up-to-date information.

What’s trending right now?

Several trends are helping to drive the unprecedented growth of the online betting sector and the first of these is the increasing use of mobile devices to play. This gives real flexibility to place bets anywhere, at any time. It might be on a football game as it’s being played or in an online casino at any time of day.

And, because a many of the sportsbook operators also now have online casinos, there is a great deal of cross-selling encouraging sports fans to try their hand at casino games.

In the case of the latter, the “live casino” experience in which games like roulette and blackjack are streamed directly to a player’s PC or mobile device are also proving to be very appealing to many. Overall, the ease and convenience of placing bets online has encouraged a whole group of what are known as “casual bettors” to contribute to the huge annual revenues being generated.

All to play for

The vibrant sector has, understandably, created a very competitive environment with a number of major players all vying for supremacy.

It’s sportsbooks who are leading the way with FanDuel out in front with an estimated 44% of the total market share. Close behind come DraftKings who are being particularly effective in using AI technology to provide players with a highly personalized offering. This is being especially effective in converting their traditional sporting base into occasional casino players. For some time, traditional land-based operators have perceived the approaching threat from online rivals, which is perhaps what’s behind Nevada’s attempt to protect some of the big names on the Las Vegas Strip by only allowing online poker.

But a number of these big casino names like Bet MGM, Caesars and Hard Rock have taken action by developing their own online brands which seem to be going from strength to strength. The fact that many already have well-established loyalty schemes means that cross-fertilization is proving to be fairly easy.

Clouds on the horizon?

While this all sounds very positive there are a couple of concerns that may be troubling operators. This first is that where a sector shows rapid and uncontrolled growth it tends to attract the attentions of regulators whose first reaction is often to impose major restrictions.

The second is market saturation in which there are suddenly so many online casinos and sportsbooks that none are able to dominate. But these are concerns that are still some way along the line. For the moment, operators are simply enjoying the online betting goldrush, and players are too.

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