Plenty has changed in the last five years for the US regarding the betting industry. 2018 marks the year when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was cast aside, allowing for placing nationwide wages on sports.
Today, we have over 38 states that allow for some forms of sports betting (online, offline, in-person, or casinos), with the rest expecting to follow and expand. And the incentives to do so are plentiful.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) reported that the betting industry made over $7 billion in 2022, and that’s without the three untapped potentials. Texas, California, and Florida are still debating and solving their situation. Even this early into the expansion, we can already see that Texas has potential for expansion as there are currently only three walk-in casinos on native land, and local players must resort to offshore betting apps in Texas.
Currently, the rest of the market consists of about 50% of the population that can legally gamble, but Florida, Texas, and California could add up to 30% to the overall score, meaning that they could be the largest potential markets in the US. Should the regulations change, an expansion could only benefit each state from the increase in jobs and revenue from taxing the betting industry. California has its fair share of legal battles, with Propositions 26 and 27 rejected, but the following Eagle1 initiative could make all the difference.
And speaking of native land, the IGRA Act of 1988 could be modernized in the coming period. The law was ideal in the 80s, but nobody could predict how technology would evolve, and what course the internet could have made in the following 40 years. Because the law states that gambling is legal on native land, the debate is on whether servers that operate on native land still fall into the spirit and definition of said law. If the IGRA Act evolves and expands towards digital frontiers, then the sky’s the limit for the US betting industry and its expansion.
With the current state, online gambling made over $19 billion in 2023, and with the current restrictions, the potential and incentive for expansion exist. Cooperation and regulation of betting is also evolving in the US, where 25 National Football League teams have signed a sponsorship with a gambling company. Lucrative deals and the expansion of the betting industry can only go as far as regulations allow, even if the sports gambling timeline is short compared to the rest of the world.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) estimates that there were around $150 billion of illegal gambling bets made in 2018, but it was reduced to a bit over $60 billion today, marking significant progress and setting the foundation for a healthy future for the industry. Another push towards regulations is bringing clarity to fantasy league sports, as they currently operate in a legal gray area since their matches are happening in virtual reality, but using real-world names. If the industry manages to tackle and resolve such topics, it will be clear it’s on the right path, and 2024 could be the landmark year for many such victories.