As the American sports betting industry continues to expand, it has reached a peak, posting a record $10.92 billion in revenue by 2023, according to the American Gaming Association's annual report.
The big year for the industry represented a 44.5% year-over-year increase over 2022, which previously held the record. A haul of $119.84 billion (up 27.8% year-over-year) combined with a higher year-over-year sports betting winning percentage of 9.1% (up from 8.1% in 2022) contributed to the record.
AGA notes that all of these numbers are without Arizona (November) and Kentucky (November and December) reporting their most recent data.
Another key factor was the addition of five new legal betting states (Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Ohio), all of which will be online by 2023. Ohio has quickly established itself as a hotbed for sports betting, contributing 936.6 million dollars to position itself as the fourth state with the highest income in the country. The five new states combined to raise $1.49 billion last year.
Meanwhile, New York maintained its dominance at the top of the rankings by racking up $1.697 billion in revenue in 2023, while New Jersey ($1.007 billion) and Illinois ($1.002 billion) each eclipsed $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time. time.
Apart from the figures for the year, the sports betting industry also recorded a record quarter by generating $3.41 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of 30.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 and an increase 19.6% compared to the record set in the first quarter of 2023.
Another quarterly record could be about to be reached. The AGA projected that Americans would bet $23.1 billion on Super Bowl LVIII, with Nevada ($185.6 million) and New York ($162.2 million) already reporting huge numbers for the game. With the legal launch of online sports betting in North Carolina in early March, just in time for March Madness, a new record quarter for the fourth quarter of 2024 seems all but assured.
While another record year could also be expected in 2024, the industry is wary of the states' notable slowdown in legalization.
“I think in some ways we are victims of our own success over the last five years, as we now have 38 states plus DC that have already taken the step of legalizing and regulating sports betting, so there are far fewer states left down the road.” “AGA senior vice president of government relations Chris Cylke told reporters Tuesday. “Some of them have pretty significant political challenges in terms of getting sports betting enacted.
“When we look at the map, there could potentially be two or three states that have some activity and get it across the finish line this year. There could be zero, which would be disappointing, but that's where we are now with the progress we've made over the years. the last six years.”
Overall, the US gaming industry, which also includes land-based casino gaming and online gambling, had a record year, posting $65.52 billion in revenue in 2023, a 10% increase from the record year. 2022. Physical gambling alone generated $50.02 billion, 75.3% of all revenue.
AGA also touts that gaming taxes generated $14.4 billion for state and local governments in 2023.
