How Much Do US Sports Bettors Stake Each Month?
As sports betting gains momentum across the United States, understanding bettor spending patterns and platform preferences has become crucial for operators seeking to capture market share. Using data from YouGov Global Gambling Profiles, we look at how much sports fans in the US wager each month and whether there are differences based on the sports they bet on.
Note that bettors in this piece refer to Americans who have placed bets on any activity other than exclusively the lottery in the past month.
Popular Sports and Monthly Spend Patterns
Football, which is also the most commonly followed sport in the US, remains the top choice among US bettors, with 27% placing bets on the sport. Basketball follows closely with a fourth of American gamblers placing bets on the sport (24%). A fifth of US gamblers chance their arm with bets on soccer (19%), with baseball (17%) and horse racing (13%) completing the top five. In this article, we will examine behaviors among bettors of these five sports.
Monthly betting spend reveals a fairly consistent pattern among bettors of various sports, with 65% of bettors wagering between $1 and $100 across football and basketball, slightly dropping to 63% in horse racing. The $101-$500 range sees consistent participation across all sports, with around 20-23% of bettors falling in this category. High-stakes bettors (spending over $500) make up a smaller segment, accounting for 9-12% depending on the sport.
Overall, baseball bettors are the most liberal with the amounts they stake on sports each month, with a combined 35% of them wagering more than $100 monthly, compared to 31% of football and soccer bettors.
Preferred Betting Platforms
In terms of platform preference, DraftKings leads across most sports, capturing 31% of football and 33% of baseball bettors. FanDuel closely follows. Other popular options include BetMGM, Bet365, and ESPN Bet, though these trail behind the two major players.
Soccer bettors show the most distinct preferences, with Bet365 particularly popular among this audience (31%) – for context, only between 15% and 22% of bettors on other sports say they have used the platform in the past week.
These insights underline both the diversity of sports bettors’ preferences and the dominance of a few major platforms in the market. As the industry evolves, understanding these trends will help sportsbooks tailor their offerings and enhance customer retention strategies.