While spending on legal sports wagering reached new heights in 2023, the rate of growth might slow this year in the lack of new states adopting the practice.

Americans bet a record $119.84 billion on sports wagering in 2023, up 27.5% from 2022, according to the American Gaming Association's Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. Those bets translated into $10.92 billion in profits in 2023, a 44.5% jump from the previous year. The distinction in the sum of all bets positioned relative to income development was tied to a 9.1% national hold percentage last year, up from 8.1% in 2022, according to the gaming market's trade association. The hold describes the portion of cash that a sportsbook or bookmaker retains after all bets have been settled.

The 2023 year-end figures will continue to grow as the American Gaming Association (AGA) noted they do not yet include the most current information from Kentucky and Arizona.

AGA executives associated the overall industry enhancement to a legal sports wagering footprint that has actually broadened to 38 states and the District of Columbia.

The sports-betting industry benefited from 5 states ending up being functional in 2023: Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska and Ohio. Together, those five states contributed $1.49 billion in sports-betting profits last year.

Ohio finished the year fourth amongst the states in regards to sports-betting revenue with $936.6 million. Massachusetts was ninth at $483.2 million.

Legal sportsbooks completed 2023 on a high note as the 4th quarter drew in wagers of $40.02 billion, up 34.4% from the final period of 2022. That included bets on NFL and college football, MLB's post-season, and the starts of the new NBA and NHL seasons. Revenue amounted to $3.41 billion, up 30.8% from the prior-year duration.

Enactment outlook

The first quarter of 2024 needs to likewise produce strong industry earnings, with the AGA estimating that Americans bet $23.1 billion on the 2024 Super Bowl and a brand-new state coming online soon. North Carolina is set to provide online sports betting March 11, in time for the March Madness college basketball tournaments.

Despite the solid start for 2024, the year will deal with a hard contrast to 2023. AGA Senior Vice President of Government Relations Chris Cylke told reporters Feb. 20 that it is unclear the number of more states, if any, will sign up with the legal sports betting lineup this year.

"Some of them have quite significant political challenges in terms of getting sports wagering itself enacted," Cylke said, "When we take a look at the map, there could be possibly two or three states that have some activity and get it throughout the finish line this year. There could be no, which would be frustrating, but that's where we are right now with the progress that we've made over the past nearly six years."

Alabama, Georgia and Missouri were mentioned as states that could possibly see legislative motion this year.

AGA Vice President of Research David Forman stated that in the absence of substantial state additions, development in 2024 and 2025 could originate from increased activity in growing jurisdictions. Forman pointed specifically to 2023 gains made by New Jersey and Illinois. New Jersey legalized sports wagering in June 2018, simply one month after the Supreme Court overruled a federal ban on the practice. Illinois legalized sports betting in 2020.

The legal sports betting market will continue to grow from bettors moving from prohibited betting outlets and from brand-new clients entering into sports betting in general, Forman said.

In 2023, New York registered a 24.2% year-over-year increase to complete as the state with the greatest profits at simply under $1.70 billion. New Jersey, up 31.9% to $1.01 billion, inched past Illinois to recover the second area. Illinois' profits grew 26.1% to $1.00 billion. Slipping behind Ohio, Pennsylvania was fifth with $686.9 million in profits, up 15%.

Total video gaming

All told, the US business video gaming industry scored a new earnings record for a third straight year, with each sector posting their leading mark. The AGA reported that overall revenue from land-based casino video games, sports wagering and iGaming reached $66.52 billion for the calendar year, a 10% gain from the previous record embeded in 2022.

When the National Indian Gaming Commission reports later on this year, total US annual video gaming earnings will approach $110 billion.

Collectively, brick-and-mortar casinos pulled a 3.3% gain in 2023 to $49.36 billion from slots and table games, while iGaming, which currently only occurs in six states, registered a 22.9% income increase to $6.17 billion.

Gambling taxes generated $14.4 billion for state and city governments in 2023, according to the AGA, a 9.7% boost from 2022 levels.

Commercial land-based video gaming - incorporating gambling establishment slot makers, table games and retail sports betting - accounted for $50.02 billion, or 75.3% of the total revenue in 2023. Online video gaming produced $16.43 billion, representing 24.7% of overall profits.

Jurisdictional watch

Among the 35 industrial video gaming jurisdictions that were operational in 2022 and 2023, 31 reported an increase in combined revenue from land-based gambling establishment video games, sports betting and iGaming. Twenty-eight signed up brand-new annual records.

Three states - Florida, Indiana and Mississippi - continual low single-digit declines in 2023. Washington, DC, which just uses sports betting, had a 17.6% retraction, the biggest drop among all jurisdictions. Washington is home to the Commanders in the NFL, the Wizards NBA team, the Capitals in the NHL and the Nationals MLB group.