Sports betting is growing, though majority of Americans believe it shouldn’t be promoted

The explosion of legalized sports betting has hit a fever pitch in the latest NFL season, and as online sportsbooks have sought to capitalize on such an expanding market, The Harris Poll recently surveyed a representative sample of U.S. adults to gauge their opinions about the practice. Below are some of the key findings, including the fact that a majority of Americans believe that sports betting should be legal but not widely promoted, nine in ten sports bettors agree that they enjoy watching sports more when they are betting on the outcome of the game, and American football and basketball are the most popular sports respondents self-report betting on.

While most U.S. adults think sports betting should be legal, a notable sum think that the practice shouldn’t be widely promoted, including by teams and leagues themselves.

Just over half (54%) of American adults have a positive opinion of sports betting, and two thirds (63%) think official sports betting (i.e., placing a bet on the outcome of a sporting event using a licensed online or in-person sportsbook) should be legal everywhere in the United States. That said, three in five (58%) U.S. adults agree that sports betting should not be widely promoted (e.g., on TV, on the internet, through celebrity sponsorships). Notably, seven in ten (71%) U.S. adults agree that sports organizations (e.g., teams, leagues) should not partner with sports betting companies.

One in five U.S. adults bet on sports. Outside of money, the most frequently cited reasons for betting on sports include socialization and making the games more exciting.  

One in five (17%) U.S. adults bet on sports, and 38% of sports bettors have started gambling on sports in the past year. Nearly three quarters (71%) of sports gamblers bet on sports at least once a week, with a fifth (20%) betting on sports at least once a day. Half (49%) of sports bettors started betting on sports to make money. Outside of making money, the most frequently cited reasons sports gamblers cited for beginning to bet on sports were to make watching a game more exciting (43%) and because their friends were doing it (42%). Nine in ten (88%) sports gamblers agree that they enjoy watching sports more when they are betting on the outcome of the game. 

Most sports gamblers agree that sports betting involves more skill than luck, and that their family and friends approve of their sports betting.    

Two thirds (67%) of sports gamblers agree that sports betting has more to do with skill than luck, and seven in ten (68%) agree that sports betting is a less risky form of gambling because they have better odds of winning.  Four in five (82%) sports gamblers agree that their family and friends approve of their sports betting.  

Football and basketball so far are the most popular sports to bet on.

Three quarters (77%) of sports gamblers have bet on American football, and two thirds (64%) have bet on basketball. Nearly half (46%) have bet on baseball, and a third (36%) have bet on soccer.  

This survey was conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll from September 23, 2022 to September 26, 2022 among 1,022 respondents. Figures for age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, region, household income, and propensity to be online have been weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions within the U.S. population. Respondents for this survey were selected from a pool of potential respondents who have agreed to participate in The Harris Poll’s online research. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 4.0 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.