Survey: Nearly 73.5M U.S. adults will bet on NFL

David Purdum, ESPN Staff WriterSep 6, 2023, 10:00 AM ET
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- Joined ESPN in 2014
- Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008

More than 1 in 4 American adults could bet on the NFL this season, a significant increase from last year, according to survey results released Wednesday by the American Gaming Association.

Approximately 73.5 million Americans — 28% of the adult population — are expected to bet on the NFL this season, the survey indicated. The estimate is a 57.7% increase from the results of the AGA) survey in 2022 and is an example of the rapid growth sports betting has experienced over the past five years.

The United States is entering its fifth football season since legal sports betting began spreading around the nation. Licensed sportsbooks have launched in 34 states, including heavily populated jurisdictions such as Massachusetts and Ohio, which opened earlier this year. Kentucky also is rushing to launch betting for the NFL season.

According to the AGA, more than $250 billion has been bet with American sportsbooks since 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal statute that had restricted regulated betting to primarily Nevada.

Before the Supreme Court decision, just over 1% of the U.S. population had access to legal sportsbooks. Five years later, over half of the U.S. lives in a jurisdiction with legal betting, a percentage that continues to grow.

Data firm Morning Consult, on behalf of the AGA, surveyed a national sample of 2,200 American adults Aug. 29-31. The survey’s definition of a bet included pick ’em and squares pools, paid fantasy contests, or casual wagers with family or friends. Out of a subcategory of NFL fans, 37% expected to place a bet this season.