Anna Helhoski

We've all seen that before.

Betting on sports also isn't particularly new.

But what's changed is how easy it is to bet instantly on your phone.

in real time, while the game is happening.

So, a January 26th report from Ipsos found that the share of Americans who have placed a bet on a live sporting event has doubled since 2022.

It found that 17% of Americans surveyed had placed a legal sports bet up from 13% in 2024 and 8% in both 2022 and 2023.

Yeah.

Correct.

So before 2018, legal sports betting was pretty much limited to Nevada.

So you're in Reno, you're in Vegas, that's where you can bet.

And it meant that the illegal sports betting market was thriving.

Then in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Murphy v. NCAA that the states have the authority to decide what laws remain in force in their own states, which meant they could legalize, regulate, and tax sports betting.

And that last one is really key.

States saw legal betting as an opportunity to earn revenue.

And today, sports betting is mainstream, and more than 30 states and D.C.

will allow some form of legal sports betting.

And that includes mobile apps and online wagering.

App-based force betting is dominated by companies like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars Sportsbook.

And these apps work by letting users place wagers before and during events.

Now, the sportsbooks set odds that reflect probabilities and public betting, and then an algorithm adjusts those figures.