After the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling to end federal bans on sports betting across the US, dozens of states across the country have legalized it. This has led to a major expansion of the industry across the US setting off a multibillion-dollar boom. Sports wagering is now bigger in Jersey than Nevada, the home of Sin City, and it is predicted that the biggest market may lie in California, where voting on the legalization of sports betting will take place next year.
This increasingly popular pastime across the US has undeniably been one of the world’s fastest-growing industries in the past couple of decades. Online casinos are always competing against each other – one offering even more tempting no deposit bonuses USA than the other. So it’s pretty evident to see why this activity is one which millions of Americans are seeking to pursue in their free time.
Betting Expansion Following 2018 Ruling
As betting grows, the boundaries that once separated gambling from sports media and sports leagues are disintegrating. Digital apps allow for sports betting to be accessible on mobile devices, giving it traction across the states and possibly marking the end of brick-and-mortar casinos as we know them. This is just the tip of the iceberg: the industry is all geared for explosive growth.
Everything is set to change: from payment methods to locations as well as the opening of doors to important partnerships between the gambling industry and celebrities as well as internationally renowned media companies, not to mention social media.
Let’s look at the graphics following the ruling to where they stand today and the predictions for the future.
Sexy Statistics: Wagering in the US
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2018, sports wagering rose to $310 million in one month. In the month of October 2021, sports gamblers wagered a total of $7 million- an increase of more than 20-fold.
It is predicted that about forty-seven million Americans will at least place one bet on NFL this current season and the numbers will only boost significantly now that the MLB, NBA, and NHL seasons have hit TV screens across the US this October. In 2021, the industry generated $4.29 billion on $57.22 billion wagered.
When it comes to predictions, Goldman Sachs Inc. believes that the online market could reach $39 billion in revenue every year by 2033. Today it stands at less than $1 billion. It’s digital betting that is the cause of this significant rise. Covid lockdowns also have to be taken into account as just like other online activities, they provided the online gambling sector with a huge increase in earnings.
Gambling Business is Booming
Professional teams and leagues are teaming up with gambling companies and forming alliances and partnerships. Media and entertainment organizations like the family-oriented behemoth, Walt Disney Inc., have sought similar partnerships and welcomed them on board.
What’s more, sports betting has never been more advertised on TV allowing the NFL to become the leading and most profitable league in the sports betting arena. Over the 2020-2021 season, when it looked like there would hardly be any betting regulations at all due to Covid, the top sportsbooks of FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars Entertainment totaled over $1 billion in sponsorship revenue for the NFL. BetMGM, Fox Bet, PointsBet, and WynnBet also negotiated commercial deals with the league.
There was talk of placing restrictions on sports betting advertising in the past. Even though federal standards allowed alcohol commercials showing people drinking, these were restricted by television networks. The same goes for cigarette advertisements. While there are no federal laws on sports betting advertising, certain phrases are being censored or modified. One solution in the past has been to replace the word ‘win’ with ‘play’; Ohio is also eliminating the phrase ‘risk-free’ unless the sportsbooks can prove otherwise.
It is not just what is being advertised but who is advertising sports betting as well. There has been a significant rise in the number of players signing contracts with sportsbooks. Two of the NHL’s most valuable players, Connor Mc David and Auston Matthews have signed deals with BetMGM and Bet 99 respectively. Wayne Gretzky is also an ambassador for BetMGM. NFL Hall of Fame top performers, Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, US Open Champion Golfer Bryson DeChambeau, and race car driver Bubba Wallace are DraftKings ambassadors.
In September, the NHL teams started revealing their jerseys for the 2022-2023 season, and around four of the league’s 32 teams uncovered partnerships affiliated with gambling: the Arizona Coyotes, the Gila River Resorts and Casinos; the Washington Capitals and Caesars Sportsbook; and the Vegas Golden Knights and Circa Sports.
On the other hand, the NBA has continued to strictly restrict bookmakers from engaging in such partnerships. TV ads consultant, Adam Armbruster, thinks it is only a matter of time, however, as the opportunity and the public pushback are part of the equation as well.
Culture, Tech and Health in Sports Betting
Director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, Lia Nower says that American sports are part and parcel of the American Lifestyle.
” There is so much family history, pride, and loyalty embedded in people for different sports teams that when you superimpose this potentially addictive activity over your loyalty, it isn’t going to be easy to shake,” she said.
Betting enhances the experience of watching sports, thereby, increasing the dopamine ride on it.
Technology is another factor to consider. Most bets placed are on mobile phones, which amount to around 60 to 90 percent in the US.
Much of the discourse on mobile betting centers around the average age of bettors. Nower believes that the correlation between behavior and betting relationships of those under 35 has become so inextricably linked to broadcasts, halftime shows, and on-screen tickers that gambling will only escalate higher in the future.
Additionally, when popular social media influencers like Jake Paul (who has 20 million+ followers on YouTube and 17 million + subscribers on Tik Tok) vow to ‘TikTok-ify’ sports betting for the younger generations, a version of the platform will likely set off and spread like wildfire across the US.
We should be mindful when it comes to the addictive aspects of this boom. Nower advises against this rapid rise of what may be a new epidemic, one that can initiate new addictions, and which might have sweeping effects without the correct treatment.