U.S. Sports Betting Jumps 70 percent in 2022

With a slew of new states coming online for sports betting in recent years, it’s no wonder that overall income is on a steep rise. New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania ranked one, two, three.

Sports betting wagers in the U.S. rose 70 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. In dollars, the total jumped from $44 billion to $74 billion.

Is anyone surprised by these figures from Sportsbook Review? The law of averages alone can explain the growth. Add more states to the list permitting legalized wagering, the numbers go up.

As far as the last five years are concerned, New Jersey, the state which filed the lawsuit and led the opposition to the sports betting ban, topped the list with a handle of $31 billion since 2018. Nevada finished second with $27 billion, while Pennsylvania captured third with $17 billion since legalizing sports betting in 2019.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of Illinois in fourth, $16 billion wagered; New York next at $15 billion; Indiana sixth with $10 billion; Colorado $9 billion for seventh; Michigan totalled $8 billion for eighth; Virginia brought in $7 billion; Tennessee was 10th, with $6 billion wagered.

“Sports betting has seen a huge increase since some states have legalized it within the last four years,” a spokesperson for the publication said.

Still, legalized sportsbooks brought in $9 billion in the initial post-Supreme Court year. The U.S. total in 2022 grew 744 percent. That’s pretty darned dazzling.

“It’s clear that as sports betting becomes more accessible across America, the money wagered could increase exponentially, too,” the spokesperson said. “This is good for governments as they can tax it and utilize Americans’ love of betting to build and improve the nation at local and national levels.”