The online sports betting industry in the USA is growing at a geometric rate, and much has been said about the potential of the American market.
Before the Supreme Court ruling on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which gave way for states to legalize Sports betting, gambling of all forms was limited to a few locations in the entirety of the United States.
The trend now is that more states are embracing sports betting. Today, over 30 states have legalized sports betting, and more are expected to sign off on online gambling sooner, rather than later.
Despite the tardiness of a handful of states to legalize sports betting, the industry has made giant strides much to the amazement of industry watchers. Year after year, the number of Sportsbooks, players, and handles keeps growing with record numbers.
Going by data from the American Gaming Association, commercial sports betting revenue hit $7.5 billion in 2022. This translates to an increase of 72.7% on the $4.3 billion recorded in 2021.
And as far as wagers go, legal Sportsbooks handled a whopping $93.2 billion in the previous year, that’s a 61.1% increase on the figures for 2021.
If these trends are maintained, coupled with the growth projections of the online gambling industry across the United States, the figures are going to get significantly higher in the coming years and there could be further scramble for a piece of the American online betting industry.
As it stands, major Bookmakers from other parts of the World including the UK and Australia have made their way into the US market.
British heavyweights like Betfred, and Bet365 have made their way to the US, but more should be expected in the coming months and years, given the meteoric rise of that sector.
Sportsbooks of European origins are currently mixing it out with their American counterparts, but they have since found out that the American market is a different ball game entirely.
From licensing to regulations, customer base, and player offers, the landscape is completely different from back home.
However, that is not to say that they can not compete favorably with the local sportsbooks. They have shown that they are capable of adapting to the existing market structure in America and they are fast spreading within states where sports betting is legal.
Besides adapting to the extant market structure, British sportsbooks have mastered the art of using mouth-watering offers to entice and retain new customers. As a matter of fact, Bet365 and Betfred offer some of the best new player betting bonuses in America.
Nevertheless, these sportsbooks are nowhere near the dominant forces in the market at the moment. The American online betting scene is currently dominated by the likes of DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, and FanDuel, and it will take a whole lot to usurp the pacesetters.
One of the reasons Sportsbooks from the other side of the Atlantic are not as entrenched or widespread as their American counterparts are the difficulty in obtaining licenses in states where sports betting is legal.
It may take months or even years in some cases for British sportsbooks to meet the conditions for licensing, according to the various regulatory frameworks of the different states.
The financial requirements are also worth considering, the licensing fee and tax rates in some states are staggering. For example, New Hampshire and New York have a 50% tax on sports betting.
Additionally, sportsbooks need a deep pocket to run an effective advertising campaign to get some decent exposure to locals.
The road to the pinnacle of the online sports betting market in the United States is arduous for foreign sportsbooks, but it is not impossible.
And given the market size and the potential of the market, the investment by British Bookmakers in the burgeoning sports betting industry in the US, there is a lot of value in playing the long game for a long-term reward.
This position looks even more promising with a projected 45% jump in Sports handle to $136.6 billion in 2023 alone.