15 Eye-Opening Sports Betting Statistics (2026)

Watching a sporting event is exciting, and those who bet on the outcome have an even greater interest in which team wins and which team loses. Not only is sports gambling more widespread than many people realize, but it is also not unusual for bettors to gamble on more than one sport. 

As our statistics show, sports gambling is something people do with their families and friends. So wipe away the image of an isolated gambler making bets on her or his own. And a good portion of sports gamblers bet on four or more sports. Popular sports for sports betting include pro basketball, pro baseball, and college basketball. 

Here are some eye-opening statistics you may not know about sports betting.

Sports betting is a billion-dollar industry, and it continues to grow. Revenue in sports betting climbed to nearly $17 billion in 2025, a 22.8% increase over 2024.¹ How much did Americans bet on sports? They legally bet $166.94 billion on sports in 2025, an increase of 11% from 2024.² 

Sports gambling is more prevalent than many people realize, with more than one-fifth of respondents of a recent survey saying they made a traditional sports bet in the previous year. And it wasn’t an isolated experience: 91% of those surveyed said they bet on sports with family or friends.³ 

Betting on a sporting event is often not a one-time thing: 66% of people who bet on sports bet on more than one sport, with 27% betting on four or more sports.

One quarter of sports bettors gamble on three sports: pro basketball, pro baseball, and college basketball. 

There is a significant difference between generations when it comes to sports betting. Young people participate, while seniors steer clear of sports betting.

In the past year, 32% of people between the ages of 25 and 34 said they bet on sports. But it is a much different answer when this question is directed to the older population. Only 8% of people aged 65 to 74 placed a sports bet in the past year, and just 3% of people aged 75 said they gambled on sports in the past year. 

Approximately 27% of Americans and 52% of men aged 18 to 49 have an active account with an online sportsbook such as DraftKings, Caesars, FanDuel, and BetMGM. Plus, a third of Americans say they have opened an online sports betting account at least once.⁴

Sixty-three percent of sports bettors say they have bet a total of $100 or more in a single day. In addition, 31% of sports bettors say someone has expressed concern about their usage of online sportsbooks. 

The same survey found that 60% of respondents said they made a larger bet hoping to recover money they lost on a previous wager, up from 52% in 2025.⁴ 

New York is the state with the largest player betting volume at $26.3 billion in 2025. Illinois is second with $15.5 billion, and New Jersey is third with $12.2 billion. These three states accounted for almost one-third of player betting volume in sports betting in the country.⁵

If a person in the United States is betting on sports, there’s a good chance he or she is making their sports bets online, with 95% of player betting volume occurring online. There are 39 legal sports betting jurisdictions in the U.S., and 31 have statewide online wagering as of July 2026. 

Sports bettors are more likely to be male than female with 42.1% of males reporting betting on sports and just 21.5% of females. Gen Z and millennials also have higher rates of sports betting compared with older generations.⁶

The popularity of online sports betting continues to grow. By 2029, online sports betting is expected to have a projected market volume of $27.15 billion. This projected increase is due to more states legalizing sports betting and the growth of online sportsbooks.⁷

Sports betting is becoming more mainstream. The number of Americans who bet on sports is expected to increase to 83.7 million by 2029.⁷ This increase in sports betting is due to accessibility, with more people turning to online and mobile betting.

For many sports bettors, placing bets leads to credit card debt. More than half of sports bettors, 57.1%, use credit cards to make deposits into their sportsbook accounts. Of bettors using credit cards, 50.7% have fallen into credit card debt.⁸

For some online sports bettors, gambling has led to a disorder, with 16% meeting the criteria of a gambling disorder. An additional 13% of sports bettors who placed bets online show signs of a gambling problem.⁹ The online aspect of the betting seems to be a factor. Early research indicates that those who place sports bets online have higher rates of problem gambling.

Sports betting may be growing, but not everyone sees that as a good thing. One survey found that 43% of U.S. adults said the widespread legalization of sports betting is bad for society, up from 34% in 2022. Only 7% said it is good for society, while half see it as neither good nor bad.¹⁰

Sports betting has become part of how many Americans experience game day, with online sportsbooks making it easier to join the action. But the excitement comes with financial risks, especially when bettors turn to credit cards or wager more than they can afford to lose. 

These statistics show why keeping bets within a budget matters just as much as picking a winning team.

1 https://www.americangaming.org/commercial-gaming-revenue-hits-78-7-billion-in-2025-driving-record-18-1-billion-in-gaming-taxes-nationwide/
2 https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/48045855/sports-betting-hits-record-1696-billion-revenue-2025"
3 https://nyproblemgambling.org/resource-lib-item/national-survey-on-gambling-attitudes/
4 https://sri.siena.edu/2026/04/13/more-than-a-quarter-of-americans-27-have-an-active-online-sports-betting-account-a-third-have-opened-an-account-at-least-once/
5 https://track360.io/blog/sports-betting-statistics-2026-us-handle-revenue-by-state
6 https://spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu/sports-betting/
7 https://rg.org/guides/statistics/average-sports-betting-details
8 https://oddsassist.com/research/sports-betting-inflation-espn-study/
9 https://www.ncpgambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sports-gambling_NCPGLitRvwExecSummary.pdf
10 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/10/02/americans-increasingly-see-legal-sports-betting-as-a-bad-thing-for-society-and-sports/