Americans have placed bets totaling over $500 billion since the US Supreme Court paved the way for legal sports betting in 2018.
Betting was up from last year in March, totaling over $15 billion. This is the highest ever bet in March, and final figures could make it the fourth or fifth highest betting month ever.
New York led the way with Big Apple bettors staking over $2.45 billion. This generated over $162 million in revenue for the state’s licensed sportsbooks. With a tax rate of 51%, that added more than $80 million to New York’s state funds.
The Empire State set a US record for the biggest sports betting handle in the fiscal year just gone and could be set to surpass that this year.
Illinois overtook New Jersey for the second-biggest betting handle at $1.24 billion. This was an 18% rise from March 2024. Meanwhile, New Jersey residents staked $1.1 billion, a 17% reduction from bets placed the previous year.
Betting favorites dominated March Madness, leading to a lower-than-average hold for the sportsbooks at 6.6%.
Unregulated markets also thrive
These figures are also only the legal sports betting market and do not take into account unregulated sports betting, which is also thriving.
Crypto casinos, for example, generated over $81 billion last year. Reports also show that unregulated gambling markets are outpacing regulated betting. The American Gaming Association (AGA) estimates that users bet over $60 billion on unlicensed sports betting every year.
With the legal sports betting figures, that equates to Americans betting over a trillion dollars since the PASPA ruling. Some argue that legalization would help control the unregulated markets, but evidence shows that legalization expands the total market.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller believes laws are getting a grip on unregulated markets, stating, “Illegal operators have been put on notice – their days as a scourge on our nation are numbered.”
However, sportsbooks continue to push for stricter protections for legal sports betting. Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, commented, “Offshore sportsbooks continue to operate without oversight, posing risks to consumers and the integrity of the sports betting industry.”
DraftKings had a particularly good March, they surpassed FanDuel as the top US sportsbook for the first time in three years. FanDuel and DraftKings together account for 75% of the $500 trillion betting handle.
Threat to legal sports betting
Prediction markets also saw a lot of action as they opened up March Madness betting for the first time. Kalshi traded over $400 million on the NCAA tournament. This prompted state regulators to issue cease-and-desist letters to the operator who continues to expand sports markets.
States continue to push the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to clamp down on the sports prediction markets, but the CFTC cancelled a roundtable this week to discuss the matter.
Even with the rise of Kalshi, Crypto.com, and Robinhood offering sports markets, as well as sweepstakes, offshore sportsbooks and crypto betting, the legal sports betting marker is doing just fine. A record-breaking March follows on from a record-breaking January and a record-breaking November. It looks like 2025 will be a record-breaking year for both legal and illegal markets.
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