Record 46.6m Americans plan to bet on 2022 NFL season

“The sustained interest in NFL wagering reflects the growth and continued maturation of legal sports betting across the country,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “Consumers clearly want legal sports betting options and understand the regulated industry’s foundational commitments to responsibility.”

As legalization spreads, bettors are moving away from bookies and toward regulated options. Of American adults:

• 23 million will place a bet online this season, up 18% from 2021.
• 10.6 million will place a bet in-person at a sportsbook this season, up 2% from 2021.
• Just 13% of NFL bettors say they will use a bookie, down two points from last year (15%) and five points from 2020 (18%).
• Bookie usage is 50% higher in states without legalized sports betting.

Today, more than half (132 million) of American adults can legally wager in their home state, 18 million more than this time last year. Demonstrating consumer confidence in regulated sportsbooks, nine in 10 (89%) of past-year sports bettors say it is very or somewhat important that they bet with a legal, regulated sportsbook.

Consumer protections are central to the legal marketplace, and past-year sports bettors recognize the industry’s responsibility commitments:

• 90% recall seeing or hearing about responsible gaming in the past year.
• 51% saw or heard more responsible gaming information in the past 12 months than they had in previous years.

The majority of past-year sports bettors believe responsible gaming programs are very or somewhat effective (82%) and that the gaming industry is committed to encouraging responsible gaming and combating problem gambling (81%).

“Responsibility is an underpinning of regulated U.S. sports betting and a clear competitive advantage as we continue to build a sustainable marketplace,” Miller added.

Among NFL bettors, the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9%) are the most popular picks to win Super Bowl LVII, followed by the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs (8%) and the Dallas Cowboys (7%). The Super Bowl will be played in a legal sports betting jurisdiction (Arizona) for the first time in February 2023.

Source: GMB