According to a recent report by the American Game Association, illegal and unregulated gambling in the United States is estimated to be $511 billion annually. These illegal sportsbooks, iGaming websites, and unregulated casinos deprive the state of $13.3 billion in tax revenue each year.
This estimated tax revenue is about $2.5 billion more than state revenue ($11.7 billion) generated by legal operators in 2021. Also, illegal competition costs the legal gaming industry $44.2 billion in annual revenue to account for nearly half of 2021’s $92 billion in industry revenue.
“Illegal and unregulated gambling is disastrous for our society, which exploits the interests of vulnerable consumers, avoids regulatory obligations, and robs communities of critical tax revenues for infrastructure, education, and more,” said Bill Miller, AGA’s president and CEO. “We’ve always known that illegal and unregulated markets are widespread, but this report shows how pervasive it is.”
The AGA report is based extensively on a survey of 5,284 U.S. adult citizens who surveyed gambling behavior over the past year, along with both legal and illegal operators, their observations on unregulated gaming consoles, and public data on the legal U.S. gaming market.
The report recognized that commercial or tribal casino games are legal in 42 states, while iGaming is legal in six states, and sports betting is legal in 36 states and Washington, D.C. It also provides a breakdown of costs on illicit returns for each betting category. 슬롯머신
AGA’s report estimates that illegal sports books and sites take away about $3.8 billion from game revenues and $700 million in state taxes. The report points to the conclusion that illegal sports bettors accounted for about 40% of the value of the U.S. sports betting market, and 49% of sports bets were earmarked for illegals in the last year, using expected betting behavior and the figures above. But legal sports betting has already expanded to 36 states.