Americans gamble an estimated $511 billion each year through illegal and unregulated sportsbooks, online casino sites and so-called “skill games,” according to a new report from the American Gaming Association.
States lose $13.3 billion in tax revenue annually, nearly $2.5 billion more than legal operators made in 2021 ($11.7 billion). It also cost the legal gaming industry $44.2 billion in annual revenue, or nearly half of the combined commercial and tribal revenue of $92 billion in 2021.
“Illegal and unregulated gambling is a disaster for our society, taking advantage of vulnerable consumers, sidestepping regulatory obligations and robbing communities of important tax revenue for infrastructure, education and more,” he said. AGA President and Executive Director Bill Miller. “We have always known that the illegal and unregulated market is widespread, but this report shows just how widespread it is.”
The AGA It is estimated that Americans bet $63.8 billion with illegal bookies and offshore sites at a cost of $3.8 billion in gaming revenue and $700 million in state taxes. With Americans expected to place $100 billion in legal sports betting this year, these results indicate that illegal sports betting operators capture nearly 40 percent of the US sports betting market.
Sports betting is legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
The report also found that last year 49 percent of sports bettors had placed a bet with an illegal operator.
Americans bet an estimated $337.9 billion in unregulated online casinos, with a loss of $3.9 billion in government tax revenue. With an estimated revenue of $13.5 billion, the size of the unregulated online casino market in the United States is nearly three times the size of legal online casino, estimated at $5 billion in 2022.
Online casinos are legal in six states.
The study was conducted by The Innovation Group on behalf of the American Gaming Association and is “largely based” on a survey of 5,284 adults in the United States, examining gambling behaviors in the past year with both legal and illegal operators. It also includes publicly available data on the size of the legal gaming market in the United States and some government gaming hardware markets.
