Adults who place sports bets are more affluent, younger, more diverse and better educated adults than the general population, according to an American Gaming Association commissioned study from Nielsen Sports.
The study focused on demographic and behavioral characteristics of self-identified bettors who the AGA believes will populate the future legal U.S. betting landscape, the association said in a press release. A second phase of the study will focus on how much money the participants spend on sports betting.
The study also found that 71 percent of those research participants who currently bet with a bookie say they would shift some or all of their betting activity to licensed bookmakers if they had access to a legal platform, the release said.
According to Nielsen Sports, 44 percent of sports bettors are adults under the age of 35, as opposed to 31 percent of the general population. Twenty-nine percent of bettors earn a household income of more than $100K, almost double the proportion of the general population.
“The Nielsen Sports data supports what we’ve long expected: access to legal sports wagering will increase fan engagement in major sport contests and enable a significant revenue generation opportunity for major sports leagues and teams,” said Sara Slane, senior vice president of public affairs for the American Gaming Association.
“Expanding access to legal sports betting will bring millennial audiences back to sports broadcasts and stadiums, which is a huge benefit for sport enterprises across the country. However, this potential will only be realized with proper policy frameworks that empower consumers with competitive odds, access to all bets and the ability to tap into modern platforms including mobile. Without this focus on consumers, the illegal market will continue to thrive,” said Slane.
Nielsen Sports surveyed more than 1,000 adult sports fans and self-identified sports bettors nationwide, identifying demographics and consumption habits to quantify the value of the legal sports betting market, the release said.
