People still bet illegally....

[Bluehorseshoe]

https://www.americangaming.org/resources/sizing-the-illegal-and-unregulated-gaming-markets/

New American Gaming Association (AGA) research reveals that Americans wager a total $673.6 billion annually with illegal and unregulated gambling operators, diverting activity away from licensed operators and denying communities critical resources that fund infrastructure, education, and public safety.

Driven by a sharp rise in illegal iGaming, expanding use of unregulated skill machines, and persistent illegal sports betting, the illegal market has grown 22% since the AGA’s last report in 2022. Growth in the legal market in recent years has kept the illegal market’s share of total U.S. gaming revenue largely steady — with illegal operators capturing smaller shares of sports betting and iGaming revenue — but illegal operators still account for nearly one-third (31.9%) of the total U.S. gaming market.

[Optional]

I would not be surprised if the offshore share grew initially. I think the biggest thing holding it back before legalization in the US was simply public acceptance and so many thinking it was evil or wrong to gamble at all.

There has been a seismic and rapid shift in those attitudes. Convince the public its morally ok to gamble and it becomes tough to also convince them one bookmaker is a moral problem whilst another is not.


That said, it's plain to see that offshore is struggling a lot compared to pre legalization. So I don't think they really are better off now than before. But that could also be related to most casual bettors abandoning them for state licensed books, and offshore being left with a much higher % of sharp action than before. Rather than customer numbers.

[super mario 48]

God bless bitcoin. Until the FBI starts digging into private citizens bitcoin transactions, offshore will be just fine.

(and FanDuel will just waste hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying for the Fed to 'shut down the illegals')

[Bluehorseshoe]

I would not be surprised if the offshore share grew initially. I think the biggest thing holding it back before legalization in the US was simply public acceptance and so many thinking it was evil or wrong to gamble at all.

There has been a seismic and rapid shift in those attitudes. Convince the public its morally ok to gamble and it becomes tough to also convince them one bookmaker is a moral problem whilst another is not.


That said, it's plain to see that offshore is struggling a lot compared to pre legalization. So I don't think they really are better off now than before. But that could also be related to most casual bettors abandoning them for state licensed books, and offshore being left with a much higher % of sharp action than before. Rather than customer numbers.

100%

If they could hang in there, they could be better off down the road by getting more customers than what they had pre-legal sports gambling. It all comes down to how the U.S. handles them.