US SPORTS BETTING IN 2023
SUPER BOWL DOMINATES
The Super Bowl initiates the highest wagering on a single game in the United States , generating just over $ 1bn in legal wagering in the US in 2022 . This equates to c . 7 % of total NFL wagering ( despite accounting for less than 0.4 % of total games ) or c . 5 % of total football wagering , including college football ( despite accounting for just 0.1 % of all games ).
March Madness is the single largest wagering event in the United States , generating c .$ 3bn of legal wagering in the US in 2022 . This equates to c . 10 % of total basketball wagering , including all NBA wagering ( despite accounting for only 67 games out of over 7,000 a year – the equivalent of 10 % of wagering from c . 1 % of games ).
The start of the NFL season also sees operators increase promotional activity , as it is viewed as a key opportunity for new signups .
Outside of these three main periods , there are other one-off events that can be used as acquisition tools . One of these was the Fifa World Cup 2022 , for which the US soccer team qualified . While soccer is a minor sport in terms of wagering , it is the largest event globally in terms of wagering , and H2 estimated that it could generate c .$ 0.5bn of handle depending on how far the US team progressed in the tournament . Flutter , for example , stated that the US winning the World Cup represented its greatest liability for the tournament , although this was largely due to the long odds of 125 / 1 ( see Fig 9 ).
Fig 8 : Share of handle by sport
100 %
90 %
80 %
70 %
60 %
50 %
40 %
30 %
20 %
10 %
0 %
Jan-19 Mar-19
May-19 Jul-19
Sep-19 Nov-19
Jan-20 Mar-20
May-20 Jul-20
Sep-20 Nov-20
Jan-21 Mar-21
May-21 Jul-21
Sep-21 Nov-21
Jan-22 Mar-22
May-22 Jul-22
Sep-22 Nov-22
Football Basketball Baseball Other
Source : State Gaming Boards , H2 Gambling Capital , January 2023
Fig 9 : US legal wagering by major event in 2022 ($ bn )
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0
Football ( 100 regular season games )
Basketball ( 100 regular season games )
World Cup ( 64 games ) Super Bowl ( 1 game ) March Madness ( 67 games )
Source : State Gaming Boards , H2 Gambling Capital , January 2023 Source : State Gaming Boards , H2 Gambling Capital , January 2023
Fig 10 : Share of parlay handle and gross win
45 %
40 %
35 %
BET TYPE ANALYSIS
Betting can be broadly split between two different bet types : single bets and parlays .
Single bets are a based on a single outcome , for example , the winner of a match . Parlay bets ( also known in Europe as accumulators or multiple bets ) are based on the results of multiple outcomes , such as the winner of three separate matches .
30 %
25 %
20 %
15 %
10 %
5 %
Jan-19 Mar-19
May-19 Jul-19
Sep-19 Nov-19
Jan-20 Mar-20
May-20 Jul-20
Handle
Sep-20 Nov-20
Jan-21 Mar-21
May-21
Gross win Source : State Gaming Boards , H2 Gambling Capital , January 2023
Jul-21 Sep-21
Nov-21 Jan-22
Mar-22 May-22
Jul-22 Sep-22
Nov-22
14