The American Gaming Association (AGA) has a Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker that provides state-by-state and national insights on the industry’s financial performance, based on state revenue and other gaming reports. In other words, each state records their own figures for gaming revenue, which is combined into one report published by the AGA. 

The 2023 Commercial Gaming Revenue report was just released by the AGA on February 20th. For the third consecutive year, annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) reached a new high across the nation.

This article will break down the top 3 states with the largest sport betting revenue and examine the national gambling report in 2023. 

Which states are biggest for sports betting?

Sports betting is becoming a large revenue source for states. Three states in the U.S. saw over a billion dollars of revenue come into each state’s licensed operators from sports betting in 2023. This chart below shows the top 5 states in order of revenue and also provides the 2022 rank and annual change. 

Source: American Gaming Association

New York

Not surprisingly, New York comes in the #1 spot with nearly $1.7 billion in sports betting activity for 2023. New York legalized sports betting in 2013 and recently launched online wagering in 2022. No other state came close to New York for 2023 sports betting revenue. The difference between #1 New York and the second-closest New Jersey was $690.7 million dollars. That difference alone would have ranked #5 among states in total revenue for 2023.

More than 3.8 million unique player accounts made over 1.2 billion bets in New York last year in 2023, according to the New York Post. State statistics show that about 1 out of every 4 adult New Yorkers bet on mobile apps (does not include in-person sports betting). There are nine licensed betting apps live in NY including Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings and FanDuel, among others.

New York will be the king of sports betting in the U.S. for a long time.

The Empire State has the highest tax rate for sports betting in the U.S. at a stunning 51% on mobile gross gaming revenues. It has generated an impressive tax revenue of $862 million from mobile sports betting alone in 2023. The two-year total in tax revenue is up to $1.75 billion in New York. 

New Jersey

Coming in at the #2 spot for 2023 sports betting revenue is the Garden State. New Jersey was the first state, besides already-legal Nevada, to legalize sports betting after the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018. Last year in 2023, they were one of three states to surpass $1 billion in sports betting revenue.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement announced a 31.9% annual change from 2022 totaling just over $1 billion of revenue in 2023 ($763 million in ‘22), per Covers.

Over $100 million of revenue was generated in December which only trailed the $111.1 million in September for the most revenue in a single month in the Garden State. According to Sports Handle, NJ operators claimed a staggering $550.9 million in parlay revenue in 2023.

New Jersey taxes mobile and online sports betting at 14.25% and has generated about $129 million in tax revenue in 2023. 

Illinois

Ranking #3 in total sports betting revenue for 2023 is the state of Illinois. Illinois joins New York and New Jersey as the only states to surpass a billion dollars in revenue.

The Illinois Gaming Board announced their sports betting revenue totals for 2023 at a whopping $1.006 billion. According to Covers, a record-breaking $128.4 million in profits were generated in December, a large part due to college bowl games and NFL football. Sports betting was legalized as of June 2019, and the first retail sportsbook launched in March 2020.

Illinois has a sports betting tax rate of 15%, and the state collected about $150 million in tax revenue from sports betting in 2023. 

AGA National Report: 2023 Gambling By the Numbers in the U.S.

Overall, national GGR reached new heights in 2023 with sports betting playing a major role.

Total GGR nationally from slots, table games, sports betting and iGaming was $66.52 billion in 2023. Slot revenue was up 3.8% from the previous year, equaling $35.51 billion. Table games saw a similar increase from 2022 at 3.5% setting a new record of $10.31 billion.

No surprise from the figures above, sports betting eclipsed a new revenue high of $10.92 billion, up an insane 44.5% from 2022. The last gaming vertical to set a 2023 revenue record was iGaming with $6.17 billion.

With states such as Maine and Vermont in the process of launching sports betting, it will not be a surprise if the national gross gaming revenue record is broken for a fourth straight year in 2024.

Gambling Addiction help and resources

If you think you or someone you know has a gambling problem, there are specialized resources available to help. In fact, Birches Health has some of the best gambling addiction treatment specialists in the country employed. For affordable, personal and confidential treatment email hello@bircheshealth.com or call (833) 483-3838 today. 

SOURCES:

AGA Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker

New York is nation's leader in sports betting revenue, report says

U.S. sports betting: Here is where all 50 states currently stand on legalizing online sports betting sites - CBSSports.com

New Jersey Surpasses $1B in Sports Betting Gross Revenue in 2023

Illinois Sets Monthly High in Sports Betting Revenue, Surpasses $1B for 2023

Where is Sports Betting Legal - All 50 States Covered 2024

How States Tax Sports Betting: A Comparative Analysis - Withum

New York made $862m from mobile sports betting in 2023

Illinois Gov. Pritzker Seeks To Raise Sports Betting Tax To 35%