Since the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 in May, 2018, it is estimated that over $20 billion has been bet with US sportsbooks. According to EPSN, the growth of the new legal sports betting market in the United States has exceeded all expectations. It has also changed the dynamics between the gambling industry and sports leagues.
In the two years since PASPA was struck down:
- 18 states have regulated sports betting markets. These states represent roughly a third of the US population in total.
- Several other states are on the verge of regulating their markets. These include North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington State and the District of Columbia – all which have passed sports betting legislation.
- 16 states have active sports betting bills.
- 12 states have given the OK to full-scale online sports betting. These include Virginia and Tennessee which will only allow online betting.
To illustrate the strength of the online betting market in the United States, of the $4.6 billion what was bet in New Jersey last year, nearly 85% of that was bet online.
The past two years have created enormous opportunity for operators in the US sports betting market – and sometimes from the least-expected angles. Pre-PASPA ruling, FanDuel and DraftKings were strong in the daily fantasy sports markets. They grabbed the opportunity to enter the legal sports betting sector and now have the biggest share of the market in many states, including New Jersey.
While major sports leagues were initially the ones to opposed to legal sports betting in the US, they are now very much part of the scene. They are active participants and entered into lucrative sponsorship and marketing deals with gambling operators.
Another change we have seen is that a number of media companies will be launching their own branded sportsbooks (Fox, the Score, etc.) , or have entered into partnerships with established sportsbook operators (CBS Sports with William Hill US).
Experts predict that the industry will continue to evolve and grow.
