US Online Gaming Revised Projection Much Higher Than Original

It is no secret that the US legal online betting industry has grown exponentially since the 2018 US Supreme Court decision to overturn its blanket ban on sports wagering. The pace of growth has forced some analysts to take another look at the numbers expected to be generated by the industry between now and 2025.

The addition of new markets across the US, the increased competition being seen in key jurisdictions across the country and the overall mainstreaming of legal betting platforms has created an industry gold rush for wagering providers and the jurisdictions that ultimately benefit from a booming, new and dominant online betting scene.

Getting Into Some Numbers

The Wall Street Journal is out with an intriguing report about the potential projections for the legal sports betting and igaming industries in the US market. J.P. Morgan analyst, Joseph Greff authored a report that had projections increase by about one-third between now and the end of 2025.

Until Greff's report, the US legal sports betting industry had been hanging their hats on a $12.2 billion gross gaming projection for the industry in the next four years. His report amended that number to a whopping $19.3 billion, from the original $12.2 billion.

Breaking the figures down even further, sports betting revenues are expected to jump from $7.6 billion to $11.5 billion alone and from $4.6 billion to $7.8 billion for iGaming.

Greff's report shows that the 2021 expected numbers will be just the start of revenues surpassing the 2025 projections. Originally, sports betting revenues were supposed to contribute in the $2 billion range this year. The upgraded figures have the legal sports betting scene bringing $4.4 billion in profits in 2021. iGaming is expected to generate $3.9 billion in revenues this year, up from the previous expectation of $2.1 billion. That makes a total of $8.3 billion for the legal online betting industry this year - up from the original $6.6 billion estimates for 2021 alone.

Increasing Market Equated to Increasing Projections

Joseph Greff's article and projections were based on the 26 states plus Washington DC that already have a legal sports betting platform as well as eight others that are slated to come on board in the near future. Included on that list are Maryland and Connecticut that are in various stages of their legalization process and Arizona and Wyoming that just recently came on board.

Nine states have come into the US legal sports betting scene just this year - that number will increase to 10 when Connecticut's full industry is up and running. 111 million Americans can now place a legal bet from home… and that number is only growing. California and Florida could be close to legalization and when they do, over half of Americans will be able to bet online legally. Projections then are likely to swell again.

Competition a Factor

With new markets coming on board in the legal sports betting industry has come an intense competition for market share. Sportsbooks are looking for relevance and working overtime to attract new bettors. There is evidence that promotion and increased advertising in the market has increased the number of bettors in competing jurisdictions. There is a lot at stake for the top dogs in the provider space and more consolidation.

Greff also talked up the competition in the online casino space which is legal in just five states at this time - Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan, and West Virginia. Once the online casino platforms catch up to the legal sports betting ones, activity at online books will spike dramatically.

Only Going Up from Here

Nobody expected this pace of expansion in the US legal gambling industry. Joseph Greff was correct in his view that the projected numbers for the industry had to be adjusted. There is a chance that they may be amended again before 2025.

The big takeaway of the legal online betting scene in America is its mainstreaming. States, previously reluctant leagues, teams and even such organizations as the NFL Player’s Association have embraced the presence of gambling in their sports. Increasing the projections by one-third is certainly impressive it may just be a start as the industry gold rush continues at a frenzied pace.