Super Bowl LVII takes place February 12, 2023 and will be a big event for sports betting. The betting industry has exploded since the 2018 Supreme Court decision that opened the gates for states to legalize sports betting. However, the question is- who are today’s sports gambling participants?
New research from Ipsos reveals all of the growth is from a small group of Americans. To be clear, fewer than one in 10 Americans say they placed “official” bets in in the past 12 months. While 8% placed an “official” bet, only 4% bet live on an event in-person.
The most popular leagues that sports bettors bet on include the NFL (59% of bettors bet on that league). Among the major sports leagues, the NHL trails with only 8% saying they bet on those games. Furthermore, the USFL (10%) and Motor Racing/F1/NASCAR (14%) were more popular.
Source: Ipsos 2023
Sports gamblers tend to be wealthy
According to Ipsos, sports bettors tend to be male, white young and wealthy. 44% have household incomes above $100,000. Conversely, the main reason Americans don’t participate in sports gambling is because they agree “it’s a waste of money.”
Other reasons Americans don’t gamble on sports include a lack of knowledge. 31% said “I don’t know enough about sports to gamble on them.”
While moral reasons were seen as part of why Americans don’t participate in sports gambling, there is wider acceptance among Americans that it is a choice. 23% of Americans do not believe in gambling on sports. However, 63% of sports fans and 51% of non sports fans say “people should be able to gamble on sports and spend their money how they want.”
