The U.S. sportsbook market is growing rapidly, due to a 2018 Supreme Court decision allowing states to legalize sports betting.
Legal landscape as of Feb. 27, 2025 Only four states do not allow gambling of any kind: Hawaii, Utah, Georgia and South Carolina.
Sports betting: Twelve states do not allow sports betting, but betting apps such as DraftKings DFS (daily fantasy sports) platform are available. DraftKings Sportsbook is not legal because sports betting in California has yet to be legalized.
Twelve remaining states
Together, California and Texas make up 1/5 of the population of the U.S. and 1/4 of the US GDP.
However, legalization has encountered significant obstacles in both states.
Missouri and Oklahoma currently have active legislation/ballot initiatives, and Mississippi has an active legislation/ballot initiative for mobile sports betting. However, we shouldn’t expect to see further legalization until later this year.
Rising revenue
In 2024, the American sports betting app industry posted a record $13.71 billion in revenue, up from 2023’s record of $11.04 billion and nearly double 2022’s $7.43 billion.
Why the gigantic growth?
The rise in online sports betting began in 2018 after the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.
In less than six years since the repeal of PASPA (as of January 2024), regulated sportsbooks had taken in over $300 billion from sports betting while paying local and state governments over $2 billion.
Who owns FanDuel
FanDuel was founded in 2009 and has gone through many changes.
The parent companies currently are Flutter Entertainment (an Irish-American sports betting company), Fox Corporation and Boyd Gaming.
Who owns DraftKings
The company was launched in 2012 as a daily fantasy sports provider. It is based out of Boston. It was initially a one-on-one baseball competition.
Major League Baseball invested in it.
DraftKings became a publicly traded company through a reverse merger with SBTech, a Bulgarian technology company, and special-purpose acquisition company Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp in April 2020.
Who owns PrizePicks
The company was founded in 2014 by Adam Wexler and Jay Deuskar in Atlanta. It operates as a Daily Fantasy Sports pick provider. It has had several legal fights with states (as all sports betting sites do) regarding offering of potentially illegal mobile betting games. In 2024 it offers paid fantasy games in 30 states.
A look at gambling addiction
The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) estimates that approximately 5 million Americans meet the criteria for compulsive gambling. However, only around 8 percent of these individuals will ever seek help for their problem.
Gambling addiction is very treatable once it has been identified.
Gambling addiction is a significant public health concern characterized by increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, “chasing” losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences.
The American Psychiatric Association defines gambling disorder as: “Persistent and recurrent problematic gambling behavior leading to clinically significant impairment or distress” that meets at least four of nine criteria.
Types of gambling and addiction
Gambling comes in many different forms. Although most people think of casino games such as slot machines and poker tables, there are several different types of gambling activities, like sports gambling, online gambling, lotteries, and horse betting.
Slot machines are the most addictive, with 75% of problem gamblers playing slots.
Harvard Medical School reports that 81% of gambling addicts play online or through gambling-related apps.
According to recent studies, 24% of gambling addicts bet on sports in the U.S. Worldwide, 38% of gambling addicts participate in sports betting.
Debt.org reports that up to 23 million Americans land in debt due to gambling.
The National Council on Problem Gambling hotline is 1-800-GAMBLER.
Sources: American Gaming Association, Rutgers Center for Gambling Studies, SensorTower.com, Businessofapps.com