Record 46.6 Million Americans Plan to Wager on 2022 NFL Season

A record 46.6 million American adults (18%) plan to bet on the upcoming National Football League (NFL) season, up three percent year-over-year, according to new American Gaming Association (AGA) research.

Importantly, since the NFL kick-off coincides with the beginning of Responsible Gaming Education Month, nine in ten (92%) U.S. sports bettors report awareness of responsible gaming tools.

“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:

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• 23 million will place a bet online this season, up 18 percent from 2021.
• 10.6 million will place a bet in-person at a sportsbook this season, up two percent from 2021.
• Just 13 percent 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 percent 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 percent recall seeing or hearing about responsible gaming in the past year.
• 51 percent 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 combatting 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.

Background

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• Sports betting is currently legal in 36 states and Washington, D.C., with 32 jurisdictions already offering operational markets. 18 of the 22 states that are home to NFL teams have legalized sports betting.
• Connecticut, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland and Wisconsin launched new markets since the start of the 2021 NFL season.
• Americans have legally wagered more than $50.4 billion on sports in the first seven months of 2022, generating more than $809 million in federal, state and local taxes.
• AGA’s Have A Game Plan.^® Bet Responsibly campaign is bringing sports betting stakeholders together to promote responsible gaming. NFL team partners include the Washington Commanders and New York Jets.