The business of sports gambling is rapidly changing, and the millions of Americans who now participate in the regulated market are trying to keep up. For those who have been around the game long enough, some of the changes are as unwelcome as they are unsettling.
Sports wagering was once confined to Las Vegas casinos, neighborhood bookies or sketchy offshore gambling operations. In 2024, it is legally available to anyone of age in 38 states and the District of Columbia, while residents in 30 of those states (and D.C.) can place bets on their phones.
The massive influx of new sports gamblers has created a multibillion-dollar revenue stream that flows directly to for-profit corporations and government entities, thereby ensuring neither has much incentive to alter the current business model.
