After the pandemic delayed legislative negotiations and sportsbook operations in 2020, the U.S. sports betting business resumed its robust recovery in the first half of 2021, with revenue growth rising.
Total U.S. sports betting gross income for the first 4 months of 2021 increased by $1.25 billion, up 363% year-on-year, according to VIXIO Gambling Compliance figures. The high increase was fueled not just by the lack of COVID-19-related sports disruptions, but also by quick launches in emerging markets like Michigan, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as steady growth in established markets such as New Jersey, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Contingent upon whether legislative trends continue in a bearish trend or a bullish pattern, the total revenue of the US sports betting market is estimated to reach between $9.4 billion and $12.7 billion, respectively.
These numbers well overshoot the predictions made by the same company earlier in January, where the total revenue was forecasted to reach anywhere between $7.3 billion to $10 billion. This basically indicates a positive swing in terms of legislative tendencies and also the good response from the existing regulated markets.
More US States than Predicted have Already Legalized Sports Betting
In its January 2021 'U.S. Sports Betting & iGaming Outlook,' VIXIO anticipated that 6 to 14 states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wyoming, will regulate and allow sports betting this year. The firm also predicted that New York and maybe North Carolina will approve mobile sports betting.
It's only June and already, 8 US states have legalized sports betting. These states are South Dakota, Wyoming, Arizona, Maryland, Florida, Nebraska, Connecticut and Louisiana. New York has, as predicted, passed laws to regulate online sports betting.
Online sports betting has been further bolstered by lucrative promotions and bonuses. NoDepositHero $100 no deposit bonuses could also be used on sports betting, because many operators also offer sportsbook features.
Many States Adopting the New Jersey Model
A trend has emerged where states that legalize sports betting are quick to adopt the New Jersey model. This entails attaching licenses to land-based casinos and requiring exclusive online sportsbook firms to collaborate with existing gaming firms.
On the other hand, New York circumvented its land-based casinos for mobile sports betting, despite state constitutional limits, with just two independent licenses possibly available through a competitive tender procedure.
Maryland is also allowing internet operators to get their own licenses without partnering with a casino, with up to 60 licenses available under the state's existing sports betting legislation. Florida will also administer all online sports betting through platforms owned by the Seminole Tribe, contingent upon outstanding federal clearance, with any collaborations formed on conditions that are fundamentally different from existing “skin” arrangements in states like New Jersey & Pennsylvania.
Future uncertainties revolve around the providers who will emerge triumphant from New York's RFP process, as well as the possibility of large brands collaborating through a sequence of collaborative bids. Furthermore, it is unknown if Massachusetts and Ohio will adopt the precedent of separating sports wagering licenses from existing casinos.
Different Set of Laws for Brands Owned by the Indian Seminole Tribes
A significant pattern began to emerge in early 2021. This was the various legal avenues for Seminole tribes to participate in internet sports betting. Owing to regulatory developments in Q1 2021, the prospect is now stronger.
Both Arizona and Connecticut have followed Michigan's lead in the first part of the year, enabling tribes to conduct sports gambling at their tribal casinos as sovereign states, but needing state licenses for mobile betting involving individuals outside of Indian reservations.
Florida's recent agreement with the Seminole Tribe, on the other hand, allows the tribe to offer internet sports betting all across the state using on-reservation servers as a kind of tribal gambling pursuant to the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
Assuming Florida's agreement passes federal and judicial scrutiny, it would set a new regulatory paradigm for how mobile sports wagering may be implemented in other large tribal gambling jurisdictions like Oklahoma, Minnesota, Washington, and potentially California. If the Seminole Tribe's road to internet betting is obstructed, demands for Congress to amend federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 for the post-PASPA age will presumably grow louder.
Sports Teams Get Involved
The NFL's Washington Commanders and its partner FanDuel created headlines in January 2021 when Virginia officials gave the first sports wagering license to a major U.S. pro sports team. Arizona, on the other hand, was the first state to use that licensing model on a large scale, thanks to laws that allow all prominent in-state sports teams to manage access to online betting licenses.
While Arizonian sports teams will not operate their own sportsbooks, instead partnering with prominent operators as designees, the state's legislation is unprecedented in terms of direct team engagement in the sports betting industry.
It remains to be seen whether Ohio-based sports teams will be successful in advocating for comparable status to their Arizona peers. Meanwhile, in Arizona, Maryland, and maybe Illinois, new market-access collaborations between teams and sportsbook operators are expected in the near future.
Considering the constant growth, the US sports betting market is well on course to become the most significant sports betting market in the world and could be worth up to $13 billion by 2025.
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