Sports Betting Revenues Up Across Nation Compared To 2020

• Every state with a legalized sports betting industry, with the exception of Oregon, saw an increase in sports betting revenue in September 2021 compared to September 2020.
• Michigan and Colorado saw the largest increases in sports betting revenue, with Michigan seeing a 520.1% increase and Colorado a 443.9% increase.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Seventeen of the 18 jurisdictions in which the sports betting industry was launched prior to last September have released their year-to-year revenue reports.

Comparing September 2020 revenue and handle to September 2021 revenue and handle there has been some solid growth in the industry despite COVID-19 protocols in many of the jurisdictions limiting bettors’ access to sportsbooks. The only state that has not released their year-to-year data yet is Illinois.

Six states (plus the District of Columbia) have seen their legal sports betting revenue increase by 100% or more: Michigan, Colorado, Arkansas, New York, Indiana, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania.

Only one jurisdiction saw their September sports betting revenue decrease compared to last year - Oregon - which saw a 17.5% decrease in September compared to last year.

Two states - Michigan and Colorado - have seen remarkable growth in their sports betting industries, with Michigan seeing a 520.1% increase in sports betting revenue and Colorado seeing a 443.9% increase in revenue compared to last September’s numbers.

Michigan saw their incredible increase in revenue as a result of an even more impressive increase in sports betting handle. Over the 12 month period ending this September, Michigan saw a 1054.4% increase in sports betting handle, going from 33.5 million in 2020 to 386.7 million in 2021.

The second-largest increase in sports betting handle came from Iowa, who saw a 190.7% increase;  surprisingly, however, they were only able to leverage this into a 10.6% revenue growth, the lowest of any state with an increase in revenue.

Some of this disparity can be explained by high promotional spending.

Nevada, long the only home to sports betting in the United States, has evidently not been harmed by the proliferation of sports betting by other states. In September alone, Nevada took in a $786.5 million handle, more than $200 million more than the next largest handle.

These trends are very encouraging for the rapidly-expanding sports betting industry in the United States.

As more and more states look to launch their own sports betting industries, the increase in revenue may be enough to put some current fence-sitters into action, creating legislation to legalize and regulate the industry like so many other states have already.