The Economics of Sports Gambling
Sports betting became legal in the US in 2018. It is now a $100 billion industry.
$100 billion is an old handle figure. In 2025 books took $166.94 billion in bets and kept $16.96 billion. The 2018 ruling let states choose.
Three numbers
- $166.94 billion — money wagered with US commercial sportsbooks in 2025, up 11%. Source: American Gaming Association.
- $16.96 billion — what those books kept after paying winners, up 22.8%. Source: American Gaming Association.
- $3.71 billion — state taxes on that sports-betting revenue, up 32.4%. Source: American Gaming Association.
What the data shows
A common claim is that sports betting became legal in the US in 2018 and is now a $100 billion industry. The fact is that 2018 ended a federal ban, and $100 billion is an old count of money wagered, not industry revenue. On 14 May 2018 the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in Murphy v. NCAA. States could legalize. Nevada was already legal. Other states opened later. Some still have not. There was no day when betting became legal in every state.
The $100 billion line mixes two stocks. Handle is everything wagered. Revenue is what the book keeps after paying winners. The American Gaming Association says commercial sportsbooks took $166.94 billion in bets in 2025 and kept $16.96 billion. The hold was about 10%. In 2024 the handle was about $150 billion and revenue about $13.7 billion. Handle crossed $100 billion between 2022 and 2023. Using $100 billion now understates the bets and overstates the industry by about ten times.
Sports betting is not the whole gaming industry. Commercial gaming revenue was $78.72 billion in 2025. Traditional casinos were $50.94 billion. Sports betting was $16.96 billion. Online casinos were $10.74 billion. Sportsbooks paid $3.71 billion in state taxes. That tax is on the money kept, not on the $166.94 billion wagered. Online betting was about 96% of sports-betting revenue. The largest markets were New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Ohio.
Handle is bets placed. Revenue is what the book kept. The $100 billion bar is the claim, and it matches neither.
| Count | Figure | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Handle, 2025 | $166.94 billion | Money wagered. Up 11% |
| Revenue, 2025 | $16.96 billion | Kept by books. Up 22.8% |
| State taxes, 2025 | $3.71 billion | On revenue, not on handle |
| Handle, 2024 | about $150 billion | Revenue that year about $13.7 billion |
| All commercial gaming | $78.72 billion | Casinos, sports, and online casinos |
How it was measured
The American Gaming Association compiles state regulatory reports. Handle is the sum of bets. Gross gaming revenue is handle minus winnings paid out. Hold is revenue divided by handle. A year with more favorites winning can raise the hold without a matching rise in bets. The 2025 hold was about 10%, against a handle rise of 11% and a revenue rise of 22.8%.
These figures are commercial, state-regulated books. They do not include tribal betting where a state does not report it the same way, illegal offshore books, or prediction markets. A national total is not a national legal market. States still set their own rules.
What it means
It is settled that 2025 handle was $166.94 billion and revenue was $16.96 billion, and that the 2018 ruling left legalization to the states. It is not settled that the industry is $100 billion, or that betting became legal nationwide in 2018. Use $167 billion for money wagered. Use $17 billion for money kept. Use $100 billion only as an old handle milestone. Do not use it as revenue.
Common misreadings
- Handle is not revenue. Books took $167 billion in bets and kept $17 billion.
- $100 billion is a stale handle figure. It is not the size of the industry.
- 2018 ended a federal ban. It did not legalize betting in every state that day.
Where the numbers come from
How we built this
- Dataset: American Gaming Association commercial gaming tracker for 2024 and 2025; Murphy v. NCAA for the 2018 ruling.
- Scope: State-regulated commercial sportsbooks. Illegal books and prediction markets excluded. Handle and revenue kept separate.
- Figures: $166.94 billion is 2025 handle. $16.96 billion is 2025 revenue. $100 billion is treated as a stale handle milestone.
