Sports betting activity broke out to new records in 2023, with both handle and revenue figures rising to all-time highs. Census data shows state governments are now raking in over $500 million per quarter in taxes on sportsbook operations, further incentivizing holdout municipalities to get on board with the 38 states that have already legalized gambling on sporting events.
The new year has started off strong, with leading state markets for sports betting setting new monthly records throughout January. Super Bowl 53 will help to boost betting activity in the February period as well. Data out of Nevada’s 182 sportsbooks show they took more wagers than ever before on the culmination of the NFL Playoffs.
Related ETF: Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (BETZ)
Per data from the American Gaming Association (AGA), US sports betting operations finished 2023 with a record $119.8 billion in handle, a 27.8% YoY increase from 2022. That coincided with a record $10.9 billion in revenue accrued by sportsbooks, surging by 44.5% from the year prior. Wagers in the fourth quarter of the year were particularly strong, jumping by 22.9% QoQ on the back of an NFL football-induced boom, as MRP had predicted would be the case last August. These figures are likely to rise slightly higher as the AGA notes that their figures do not include yet to be reported months of data in Arizona and Kentucky.
US Census Bureau’s data shows that the seemingly unstoppable momentum in the sports betting market has been a boon to state governments as well. Per the Census’s latest Quarterly Survey of State and Local Tax Revenue (QTAX), combined revenues derived from sports betting have bolstered state coffers with over $1 billion in combined sales tax and gross receipts in only the most recent two quarters of data (Q2 and Q3 2023). Heaping tax income should…
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