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NFL season opener kicks off a surge in sports betting. Taxpayers are the big winners.

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NFL season opener kicks off a surge in sports betting. Taxpayers are the big winners.

What will the NFL’s seventh season with widespread legal sports betting bring? By all indications, we can expect even more enthusiasm for placing wagers.

Bill Miller
 |  Opinion contributor

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Can Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce take the Kansas City Chiefs to yet another Super Bowl? How will Houston Texas quarterback C.J. Stroud build on his sensational rookie season? Could Aaron Rodgers’ return from injury finally be the difference-maker for the New York Jets?

These are a few of the questions fans are batting around − and betting on −as the 2024 NFL season kicks off Thursday night. Another question on many minds: What will the NFL’s seventh season with widespread legal sports betting bring?

By all indications, we can expect even more enthusiasm for placing wagers within a well-regulated market. Since the Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports betting in 2018, Washington, D.C., and 38 states have allowed betting on sports in some form, giving two-thirds of American adults legal wagering options in their home states.

Americans will bet billions on NFL games

This year, the American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will bet $35 billion on the NFL season.

It shouldn’t be a surprise then that 77% of Americans support legal sports betting in their home state and 9 in10 Americans view sports betting as an acceptable form of entertainment. Last year, 85% of American adults said they agreed with the Supreme Court decision that allowed sports betting legalization across the United States, up from 63% in 2019.

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Why the soaring support for legal sports betting? Consumers and elected leaders have discovered that legal access to a pastime millions of Americans have always participated in − historically through bookies and offshore websites − is the right way forward.

A significant majority of betting in America now happens via legal avenues, where consumers enjoy the protections of a regulated marketplace. Americans are recognizing this as a transformative shift from when gambling was dominated by predatory, illegal operators.

Legal operators know that promoting responsible gaming is in everyone’s best interest. This means investing millions of dollars each year in responsible gaming tools and education, and taking age and identity verification seriously to reserve gaming strictly for adults.

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Legal sports betting generates billions in tax revenues

Americans also support legal wagering for its economic benefits. The billions of dollars in taxes generated each year by legal sports betting continues to fund critical public projects across the country.

September is not only the start of the NFL season but also marks Responsible Gaming Education Month. In the coming weeks, the gaming industry will announce new initiatives to bolster our responsibility commitments, as well as proudly showcase our current efforts.

As always, the NFL season will bring its fair share of sports betting skeptics. Just as fans are entitled to their opinion about which team will win this season’s Super Bowl, they are entitled to their opinion on legal gambling as well.

However, the facts are clear: Americans overwhelmingly see legal wagering as a safe, enjoyable part of our sports culture − and the industry is making sure it stays that way.

Bill Miller is president and CEO of the American Gaming Association.

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