Unregulated sports betting hurts customers…and states
Unregulated sports betting operators flourish in states where sports betting is not yet legal. These online platforms dodge U.S. laws that ensure consumer protection, age verification, and responsible gaming protections, putting customers at risk and depriving states of millions in tax revenue every year.
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STATE OF PLAY: Sports Betting
Customers deserve access to legal, transparent, and consumer-protected platforms to enjoy sports betting online. That’s why SBA is working to end the offshore, illicit market for sports betting and create a consumer-protected online sports betting market in all 50 states.
We believe customers should have access to the benefits of legal sports betting with consumer protections and responsible gaming tools that do not exist on the unregulated market.
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STATE REVENUE
Sports betting generates $14 billion a year in new tax revenue for states where it’s legal and regulated. Bets made with unregulated sportsbooks cost states nearly the same potential revenue — roughly $13 billion in tax revenue is lost every year that could go to educating kids, building roads, or helping families afford college.
LATEST NEWS
Illinois’ sports betting industry experienced a pronounced drop in wagering volume this September, marking the first full month under the state’s newly implemented per-wager tax. Data from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB)
Five million fewer bets were placed in September than in the same month in 2024, according to data from the Illinois Gaming Board�
"Overtaxing legal betting will send bettors either outside state lines, city lines, or to the predatory illegal market and have profound negative implications for the legal market and also future tax revenues here.
After a recent N.B.A. scandal, more writers and pundits have come out against legalized betting. But the case that they’re making is weaker than it appears
The choice is clear: Illinois can preserve a stable, regulated marketplace by maintaining a tax structure that keeps operators and players in the legal market. Pushing players to bet more and shifting them to the black market are not desirable outcomes for anyone
Legalized sportsbooks, and their cooperation with the NBA and law enforcement, are likely a big reason the scheme was uncovered at all
Chicago fans are now confronting the possibility of a second tax on wagers made in city limits
High taxes push consumers toward offshore and illegal markets. If bettors feel squeezed by bad odds, fees and disappearing perks they may return to the unregulated platforms that are not burdened by punitive regulations
IRS Chief Guy Ficco urged those who sports bet to use reputable online big platforms, do research about where people deposit their money and be cautious
Data from the Progressive Policy Institute shows “no sign of a tidal wave of bankruptcies or consumer credit downgrades in states that were early adopters of mobile sports betting.