US SPORTS BETTING IN 2023
THE STATE OF PLAY
An overview of the state of the US sportsbook market today , with a sport-by-sport analysis , new insights on bet types and the role of free bets
PART 2
SPORTS BETTING IS now legal in some form in 33 states , and $ 85bn of legal wagers have been made with licensed US sportsbooks in the past 12 months .
Despite a handful of states only allowing retail sports betting , over 90 % of handle is generated through online / mobile sports betting .
In terms of gross win / customer losses , US-licensed sportsbooks have generated over $ 6.3bn in gross win over the past 12 months , with just under 90 % of this generated through online / mobile channels .
However , we note that gross win figures include free bets , so the actual net win ( the actual customer losses ) is much lower than this ( see Fig 2 ).
Fig 2 : US sports betting handle ($ bn )
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Jan-19 Mar-19
May-19 Jul-19
Sep-19 Nov-19
Jan-20 Mar-20
May-20 Jul-20
Source : State Gaming Boards , January 2023
Retail handle
The hold margin can vary substantially on a month-bymonth basis due to sporting results ( predominantly driven by the number of favourites winning , although other factors such as odds promotions can also have a significant impact ).
Generally , retail has a higher hold margin than online , due to the type of bets placed ( more parlays / less in-play in retail ) and the relative lack of competition ( retail has a more captive audience ).
However , the differential between the two channels has narrowed , with the average retail hold margin over the past 12 months of 8.7 % being only 130 basis points higher
Sep-20 Nov-20
Jan-21 Mar-21
May-21
Online handle
Jul-21 Sep-21
Nov-21 Jan-22
Mar-22 May-22
Jul-22 Sep-22
Nov-22
10