The sports betting market in the United States has been growing rapidly over the three years since PAPSA was repealed, and on Wednesday two companies released studies highlighting its enormous potential.
US sports betting comparison site Bonus Seeker, a Catena Media brand, published a white paper that referred to the US sports betting market as “fledgling yet burgeoning.” The paper projected a significant surge in revenue in the coming years for states that implement sports betting wisely.
BettingUSA.com’s special report took a slightly different tack, focusing on how the industry can maximize the full potential of legal sports betting in the US. The company interviewed operators, suppliers and regulators to determine the key challenges the industry has faced.
“These experts and BettingUSA.com believe education, technology and responsible gambling will be the key to the USA becoming the largest legal sports betting market in the world,” the sports betting comparison site said.
According to the Bonus Seeker paper, which looked at the market on a state-by-state basis, an increasing number of states have realized mobile betting with multiple operators is the route to the most revenue possible.
Simply put, Bonus Seeker said the numbers show states that offer online wagering take in more bets than states that don’t. New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Iowa and West Virginia recorded the highest sports betting handles in 2020 – with all of them adopting mobile betting.
In each of these states, with the exception of Nevada, the report found mobile betting accounts for at least 80% of all wagers taken. Even in Nevada, more than half of wagers were placed via online sportsbooks rather than at the land-based betting window. Of course, Covid-related shutdowns have affected these numbers.
Bonus Seeker said New York, and its population of 19 million, has the potential to become the biggest market in the country.
Brian Sausa, lead sportswriter at Catena Media US, said in a statement, “Legal sports betting is clearly becoming big business in the US, but not every state does it the same way. Revealing that mobile betting is set to outstrip land-based by roughly three times is a real eye-opener.”
The BettingUSA.com special report quotes several industry insiders, including Patrick Eichner, director of communications for PointsBet.
“Education is a big obstacle in every state you launch,” Eichner said. “It really plays itself out because sports betting is not a national opportunity; it’s very much state-by-state. It’s an entirely new process, and each time you need to make tweaks to appeal to the consumer.”
Simon Noble, head of sportsbook for Champion Sports, assessed, “American sports are perfect for in-play betting, and this combined with the reams of data that is available means that players will quickly come to expect these markets and odds, so long as the enabling legislation in each state allows for them to be offered remotely.”
The report also discusses the role media companies will play in the sports betting space and how affiliates are helping to educate players about legal online sports betting.
Mike Murphy, founder of BettingUSA.com, added: “While tremendous progress has been made to date, it is clear the sector is not without its teething issues, especially when it comes to technology, regulation, safe gaming and education. From the experts we have spoken to, it seems these challenges can be overcome, and if we are able to do so, the US will undoubtedly become the largest legal betting market in the world.”
