What you must know about sports wagering in the United States:
- Sports speculators are extremely involved in the sporting world.
- The majority of sports bettors are men, youthful, and/or affluent.
- Americans have mixed feelings about legalizing sports wagering.
- Non-bettors do not participate because they view it as a financial waste.
- The majority of sports enthusiasts and Americans believe that sports betting should be a matter of personal choice.
Very few individuals wager on athletics. Only about 8% of Americans say they have wagered on sports via an app or online, and only 4% have wagered on sports in-person within the past year, indicating that very few Americans are responsible for the billions of dollars wagered and revenue generated.
As evidenced by the amount of money spent on wagers, sports bettors are highly invested in the sporting world. While only one-third of Americans believe that sports wagering increases people’s interest in sports, 69% of sports bettors agree. They are more likely to self-identify as sports fans, participate in fantasy sports, attend live sporting events, and follow niche forms of sports, such as esports.
An expert with a free football picks company said that the way sports betting is looked at is changing. More and more Americans are betting sports every year as they comfortable with the idea. Mostly, people are starting to look at sports betting as a way to enhance the excitement of a game rather than as a way to make or lose money.
The fact that only 8% of people regularly place bets means that this sub-group shares a sense of community. You can hear them at your local sports bar talking about the “point spread“ and the “over under”. It’s a separate language and one that is shared by only a fraction of citizens, hence making it its own sub-culture.
