April 23, 2024
By Patricia McQueen
NASPL Insights Online
Once upon a time, sports betting in the United States was legal primarily in Nevada. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t popular around the country. By most estimates, illegal sports betting generated at least $100 billion – and as high as $150 billion or even more – in the years immediately before the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.
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Fast forward to today, and sports betting is now legal and operating in 34 jurisdictions, two of which just began accepting wagers earlier this year. That number includes only those whose sports betting revenues (commercial and tribal) are regularly reported and taxed, but there are a few additional states where only tribal sports betting is conducted under compact and not regularly reported.
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In calendar 2023, 32 jurisdictions reported a total of $121.5 billion in sports betting handle, generating more than $11 billion in gross gaming revenue (generally, handle minus prize payouts; in a few jurisdictions only taxable revenue is reported, after allowable deductions).
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Of that $121.5 billion in handle, $15.3 billion was generated by lotteries in 12 jurisdictions, acting in an operator and/or regulator capacity. The rest, $106.2 billion, was generated by private and tribal operators in 22 jurisdictions (lotteries in Connecticut and Ohio share the sports betting market with tribal and commercial casinos, respectively). Most of those are regulated by a state’s gaming commission, but in some cases a racing commission or other government entity was assigned the task.
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Exhibits 1 and 2 provide handle and revenue details by jurisdiction.
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Exhibit 1:
American Sports Betting
Total Handle, Calendar Year 2023
(Dollars in millions)
Jurisdiction | Lottery | Non-Lottery | Total |
Arizona | $6,573.8 | $6,573.8 | |
Arkansas | 404.8 | Â 404.8 | |
Colorado | 5,560.2 | 5,560.2 | |
Connecticut | $259.6 | 1,889.0 | 2,148.6 |
Delaware | 65.3 | 65.3 | |
D.C | 169.8 | Â | 169.8 |
Illinois | 11,613.5 | 11,613.5 | |
Indiana | 4,337.8 | 4,337.8 | |
Iowa | 2,424.0 | 2,424.0 | |
Kansas | Â 2,121.6 | 2,121.6 | |
Kentucky | Â 892.4 | 892.4 | |
Louisiana | Â 2,904.9 | 2,904.9 | |
Maine | 82.1 | 82.1 | |
Maryland | 4,617.3 | 4,617.3 | |
Massachusetts | 4,967.1 | 4,967.1 | |
Michigan | 4,810.9 | 4,810.9 | |
Mississippi | 474.3 | 474.3 | |
Montana | 62.3 | 62.3 | |
Nebraska | n/a | n/a | |
Nevada | 8,256.3 | 8,256.3 | |
New Hampshire | 821.7 | 821.7 | |
New Jersey | 11,972.3 | 11,972.3 | |
New York | 19,196.9 | 19,196.9 | |
Ohio | 13.2 | 7,659.4 | 7,672.7 |
Oregon | 675.9 | 675.9 | |
Pennsylvania | 7,682.7 | 7,682.7 | |
Rhode Island | 461.3 | 461.3 | |
South Dakota | 9.0 | 9.0 | |
Tennessee | 4,295.7 | 4,295.7 | |
Virginia | 5,590.0 | 5,590.0 | |
West Virginia | 481.5 | 481.5 | |
Wyoming | 172.2 | 172.2 | |
Total | $15,339.6 | $106,179.2 | $121,518.8 |
Handle based on unaudited monthly or weekly data; will not reflect later adjustments.
Lottery column includes sports betting operated or regulated by lotteries.
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Exhibit 2:
American Sports Betting
Gross Gaming Revenue, Calendar Year 2023
(Dollars in millions)
Jurisdiction | Lottery | Non-Lottery | Total |
Arizona | $557.4 | $557.4 | |
Arkansas | Â | 37.2 | 37.2 |
Colorado | Â Â Â Â | 391.9 | 391.9 |
Connecticut | $20.9 | Â 152.7 | 173.6 |
Delaware | 14.5 | 14.5 | |
D.C. | 19.0 | Â 19.0 | |
Illinois | 1,002.3 | Â 1,002.3 | |
Indiana |  | 404.1 | 404.1 |
Iowa | Â | 202.3 | 202.3 |
Kansas | 182.4 | 182.4 | |
Kentucky | 112.1 | 112.1 | |
Louisiana | 334.4 | 334.4 | |
Maine | 9.5 | 9.5 | |
Maryland | 514.1 | 514.1 | |
Massachusetts | Â 483.6 | 483.6 | |
Michigan | 434.4 | 434.4 | |
Mississippi | 51.2 | 51.2 | |
Montana | 8.4 | 8.4 | |
Nebraska | 1.8 | Â 1.8 | |
Nevada | 481.3 | 481.3 | |
New Hampshire | 80.3 | 80.3 | |
New Jersey | 1,006.6 | 1,006.6 | |
New York | 1,697.3 | 1,697.3 | |
Ohio | 1.4 | 1,007.2 | 1,008.6 |
Oregon | 75.7 | 75.7 | |
Pennsylvania | Â | 686.9 | 686.9 |
Rhode Island | 40.3 | 40.3 | |
South Dakota | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
Tennessee | Â | Â 417.7 | 417.7 |
Virginia | 560.2 | 560.2 | |
West Virginia | 47.6 | 47.6 | |
Wyoming | Â Â | 17.3 | 17.3 |
Total | $1,564.8 | $9,490.2 | $11,055.0 |
GGR based on unaudited monthly or weekly data; will not reflect later adjustments.
Lottery column includes sports betting operated or regulated by lotteries.
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Big Business Online
Far and away the leaders among lottery jurisdictions are Virginia and Maryland, as legislation in those states is similar to many others – multiple online/mobile sports betting operators are allowed. That’s clearly what drives revenues. Just look at New York, where sports betting is under the New York State Gaming Commission. First legalized at casinos only, New York sports betting revenues lagged considerably behind other markets. Just $23 million in gross gaming revenue was reported across four casinos in calendar 2021, far less than other major jurisdictions, and even less than much smaller ones.
Online/mobile sports betting was introduced in New York in January 2022, and the total market exploded even as onsite casino sports revenues declined. New York’s sports betting generated a total of almost $1.7 billion in gross gaming revenues in calendar 2023, with less than 0.5% of that coming onsite at the casinos, or just $7.4 million.
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Among other jurisdictions, only Ohio, New Jersey and Illinois reached as much as $1 billion in total gross gaming revenue on sports wagering in 2023. Each also had a very large share of revenues coming through online/mobile betting, although not to the New York extreme. Online/mobile revenue in Ohio was 97.4% of the state total, 95.6% of the total in New Jersey, and 96.8% in Illinois.
Similar percentages have been reported for some lottery-operated sports betting where online betting is allowed. In Maryland, online/mobile revenue was almost 97% of the total in 2023. In Virginia, more than 98% of gaming revenue was online/mobile, although to be fair, the first retail casinos only opened in July 2022, fully 18 months after online betting began. In other, smaller lottery jurisdictions with physical sports betting locations in the most populous areas, the online/mobile sports revenue percentage is quite a bit lower – about 91% in West Virginia, 84% in New Hampshire and 76% in Rhode Island.
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Onwards and Upwards
In five-and-a-half years of legal sports betting in the U.S., from June 2018 through the end of 2023, cumulative gross gaming revenues have exceeded $25.8 billion. That includes more than $2.2 billion in Nevada, which has seen its sports betting revenues grow year after year despite the nationwide expansion. Exhibit 3 presents the cumulative gross gaming revenue generated in each jurisdiction since Delaware launched the first full-fledged sports betting outside of Nevada on June 5, 2018.
By the end of 2018, six jurisdictions outside of Nevada offered sports betting. That number grew to 12 at the end of 2019, 18 in 2020, 25 in 2021, 26 in 2022, 31 in 2023 and 33 to date in 2024. Exhibit 4 presents the annual gross gaming revenue generated, aggregated by the type of operator and/or regulator: lotteries, non-lotteries and Nevada. From a total of $441 million in 2018 to more than $25.8 billion in 2023, the growth through expansion has been tremendous.
Exhibit 3:
American Sports Betting
Cumulative Gross Gaming Revenue, 2018 - 2023
(Dollars in millions)
Jurisdiction | Launch | Lottery | Non-Lottery | Total |
Arizona | Sept 2021 | $1,201.4 | $1,201.4 | |
Arkansas | July 2019 | 69.3 | 69.3 | |
Colorado | May 2020 | 1,069.8 | 1,069.8 | |
Connecticut | Oct 2021 | $44.1 | 296.0 | 340.0 |
Delaware | June 2018* | 125.5 | 125.5 | |
D.C. | May 2020 | 82.6 | 82.6 | |
Illinois | June 2020 | 2,447.8 | 2,447.8 | |
Indiana | Sept 2019 | 1,273.6 | 1,273.6 | |
Iowa | Aug 2019 | 554.3 | 554.3 | |
Kansas | Sept 2022 | 258.9 | 258.9 | |
Kentucky | Sept 2023 | 112.1 | 112.1 | |
Louisiana | Nov 2021 | 534.8 | 534.8 | |
Maine | Nov 2023 | 9.5 | 9.5 | |
Maryland | Dec 2021 | 666.7 | 666.7 | |
Massachusetts | Jan 2023 | 483.6 | 483.6 | |
Michigan | March 2020 | 1,190.1 | 1,190.1 | |
Mississippi | Aug 2018 | 281.3 | 281.3 | |
Montana | March 2020 | 24.4 | 24.4 | |
Nebraska | June 2023 | 1.8 | 1.8 | |
Nevada | 1955 / 1975 ** | 2,263.0 | 2,263.0 | |
New Hampshire | Dec 2019 | 214.5 | 214.5 | |
New Jersey | June 2018 | 3,376.9 | 3,376.9 | |
New York | July 2019 | 3,106.2 | 3,106.2 | |
Ohio | Jan 2023 | 1.4 | 1,007.2 | 1,008.6 |
Oregon | Oct 2019 | 178.6 | 178.6 | |
Pennsylvania | Nov 2018 | 2,157.5 | 2,157.5 | |
Rhode Island | Sept 2019 | 171.2 | 171.2 | |
South Dakota | Sept 2021 | 2.1 | 2.1 | |
Tennessee | Nov 2020 | 1,063.6 | 1,063.6 | |
Virginia | Jan 2021 | 1,327.3 | 1,327.3 | |
West Virginia | Aug 2018 | 196.9 | 196.9 | |
Wyoming | Sept 2021 | 36.1 | 36.1 | |
Total | $3,292.2 | $22,538.1 | $25,830.3 |
* Delaware startup date for full sports betting only; parlay bets began in 2009. Data reflects both activities.
** Nevada standalone sports books authorized in 1955; hotel sports books in 1975.
Calendar year data gathered from unaudited monthly or weekly reports; will not reflect later adjustments.
Lottery column includes sports betting operated or regulated by lotteries.
Exhibit 4:
American Sports Betting Gross Gaming Revenue
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