States Without Sports Betting Are Missing Out On A Ton Of Revenue
There are a few states that are missing out on big money when it comes to sports betting.
A 2018 Supreme Court decision struck down the federal ban on betting outside of Nevada, and sports betting is now legal in more than two dozen states.
Nevada has had legal wagering for decades, and billions of dollars are wagered there annually. Per LegalSportsReport.com, sports betting generates hundreds of millions in revenue for the state, which also has one of the lowest tax rates in the country at 6.75%.
From June 2018 to May 2021, $14.5 billion was wagered in sports betting, with Nevada collecting $61.4 million in tax revenue. Sportsbooks also kept $909.9 million out of the $14.5 billion wagered.
In the same time frame, $14.4 billion was wagered on sports in New Jersey, with sportsbooks seeing $981.6 million and $120.8 million in taxes collected by the state.
"NJ sports betting is the biggest outside Nevada," LegalSportsReport.com says. "That performance is on the merits of its strong online betting presence: about 80% of all handle is generated through sportsbook apps and websites."
Pennsylvania collected $124.7 million in taxes between June 2018 and May 2021 on $6.8 billion wagered, with $507.7 million going to sportsbooks.
Legal Sports Report says Pennsylvania is set to become one of the biggest markets in the near future, but the high cost of doing business with an effective tax rate of 36% and a $10 million licensing fee is a "hiccup."
"So far, the state has mostly relied on retail sportsbooks, but sportsbook apps started going live in May 2019, and should dramatically increase both handle and revenue," the website states.
Tennessee sports betting launched November 1 as a mobile-only market, and earlier this month, it was reported the state collected $15.5 million in taxes on $905.8 million wagered, with $78 million going to sportsbooks.
But Tennessee Lottery CEO Rebecca Hargrove told the state’s Sports Wagering Advisory Council that the gross handle of bets placed has topped $1 billion, and the state's sports betting brought in a total of $18.5 million in privilege tax revenue over the first six months that wagers have been accepted, The Associated Press reports.
Hargrove said that includes $2.8 million in tax revenue in April from a $172 million gross handle.
In Tennessee, 80% of the revenue goes into an education account that mostly funds postsecondary scholarships, 15% goes toward local government needs and 5% funds gambling problem treatment programs.
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