Mobile sports bets booming in some states as others shy away

Mar 16, 2023, 6:01 AM
FILE - New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu shows his receipt after placing the first legal sports wager...
FILE - New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu shows his receipt after placing the first legal sports wagering bet on his mobile phone in Manchester, N.H., Dec. 30, 2019. The stakes are higher in Ohio this year for March Madness — and not just because it's a regional host for the first round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament. For the first time, sports fans in Ohio are able to click on a mobile app — or tap into kiosk at a bar, restaurant or grocery store — and legally bet on the famed basketball tournament. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

The stakes are higher in Ohio this year for March Madness — and not just because it’s a regional host for the first round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament.

For the first time, Ohio sports fans can click on a mobile app or tap into kiosks at bars, restaurants or grocery stores and legally bet on the famed tournament.

the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it nearly five years ago.

Ohio got off to a booming start when it launched sports betting in January. In its first month, Ohio bettors wagered more than $1.1 billion, generating more than $20 million in state tax revenue. That nearly tripled the revenue amount that legislative analysts had projected for the entire first six months of operation. But no one’s blaming them for missing the mark.

“They couldn’t know how big of a market we were going to have on day one,” said Jessica Franks, communications director at the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

Whereas some states started with limited in-person sports betting and gradually added mobile apps, Ohio began more aggressively — simultaneously launching numerous mobile options and retail locations. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is now proposing to double the tax rate on sports betting.

more than $1.6 billion was wagered through online sports betting, compared to just $15 million through in-person sports bets at casinos.

New York charges a 51% tax on revenue from mobile sports betting — a far higher rate than other states — with most revenue going to education. Budget officials originally projected that mobile sports betting would generate $357 million in state tax revenue for the 2023 fiscal year, which ends March 31. Bettors have blown that away. Through February, mobile sports betting had generated $661 million of tax revenue for education.

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., who advocated for sports betting as chair of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, said even he is amazed at the results.

“There is an appetite, certainly, to do sports betting with a mobile device,” Addabbo said.

New York and Ohio both have large populations and multiple professional sports teams to help drive interest in sports betting.

Arkansas, a much smaller state without major league sports teams, began in-person sports betting at casinos in July 2019. Things really took off last year when it launched mobile sports betting. State figures show nearly $3 million was wagered on this year’s Super Bowl — more than three times the annual amount before mobile betting was allowed.

State officials expect people from neighboring states to cross into Arkansas to bet on March Madness.

“We will be surprised if March doesn’t set a new monthly record for sports betting in the state,” said Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

Other states also have exceeded expectations for sports betting revenues.

Indiana’s sports wagering taxes topped $31 million in the 2022 fiscal year — well more than the $12 million projection when lawmakers authorized it in 2019. New Hampshire’s tax take of nearly $24 million from sports betting easily doubled its original projection for the 2022 fiscal year.

But not every state is banking as many bucks as projected from sports betting.

Legislative analysts in Montana, which allows sports bets only from online networks inside bars and casinos, had anticipated that $79 million of bets would be cast last fiscal year, generating $4.8 million of state tax revenue. The actual results were about half that — $2.4 million of state tax revenue from about $45 million of sports bets.

Connecticut received less than $20 million in sports betting taxes in the first 16 months since wagering began in October 2021. Legislative analysts had projected $21 million in its first full fiscal year.

Nationwide, legal sports betting has generated more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing it, according to the American Gaming Association. It’s producing about one-quarter of what eventually could be expected from a fully mature market.

The debate about sports betting has shifted from “`Is this something we should consider?’ to ‘How should we go about doing this in a way that best serves our constituencies?’” said Casey Clark, the association’s senior vice president.

The prospects for sports betting to expand into more states this year appear mixed.

A bill legalizing sports betting advanced Wednesday to the Senate but still faces a high hurdle. Similar bills have died in the past in the Senate, and this year’s version would a need three-fifths vote to pass.

Supporters also are taking another run at a sports betting bill in Minnesota and various other states.

In Missouri, attempts to authorize sports betting have gotten bogged down in the Senate over whether to pair them with regulations on slot-machine-style games that have been popping up in convenience stores.

In Georgia, sports betting bills have stalled amid debate about whether a constitutional amendment is needed, how to spend the potential tax revenue and whether to pair sports betting with the legalization of casinos and horse racing tracks.

The three most populous states — California, Texas and Florida — all currently lack online sports betting. The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which received exclusive state rights to run sports betting, shut down its online app in December 2021 after federal courts ruled it violated a rule requiring people to be physically present on tribal land when wagering.

After the most expensive ballot issue battle in U.S. history, California voters last November rejected a pair of rival sports betting initiatives backed by Native American tribes and the gambling industry. Supporters are likely to try again, though it’s unclear when that might occur.

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Tom Davies in Indianapolis; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark.; Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla.; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn.; Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Mont.; Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minn.; Maysoon Khan in Albany, N.Y.; Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H.; Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Ky.; and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.

United States News

Emergency responders and heavy equipment are seen at the site of a deadly explosion at a chocolate ...
Associated Press

Probe of chocolate factory blast focuses on gas pipeline

Federal safety officials are investigating the role of a natural gas pipeline in a fatal blast at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday. Friday’s powerful explosion at R.M. Palmer Co. killed seven people, sent 10 to the hospital and damaged several other buildings in West Reading, a small town 60 […]
18 hours ago
Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, addresses the House Committee on Judiciary about SB270 at the Arkansas...
Associated Press

Arkansas bathroom bill condemned as too extreme is revamped

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An North Carolina law that was repealed after widespread boycotts was revamped Tuesday following complaints from members of the transgender community and their families that it would criminalize trans people simply for using public restrooms. The House Judiciary Committee endorsed the proposal to allow someone to be charged with misdemeanor […]
18 hours ago
(Photo by Christian Thompson/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)...
Associated Press

Fire kills 40 at immigration detention center in Mexico

Migrants fearing deportation set mattresses ablaze at an immigration detention center in Mexico, starting a fire that killed 40 people.
18 hours ago
FILE - A pump jack sits idle in front of palm trees on June 9, 2021, in Signal Hill, Calif. Califor...
Associated Press

New California gas price law another defeat for oil industry

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — It was just a few weeks ago that California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the oil industry the second most powerful force on earth, trailing only Mother Nature in its ability to bend the elements — both physical and political — to its will. Yet on Tuesday, Newsom plans to sign a […]
18 hours ago
State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh prepares to speak before the Nebraska Legislature Monday, March 13, 2...
Associated Press

What is the filibuster, and why does it matter in Nebraska?

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A group of lawmakers is continuing this week to filibuster all bills that come before the Nebraska Legislature — even the ones they support — in protest over a bill that would ban gender-affirming treatments for minors. Supporters of that bill say they’re trying to protect children from making body-altering decisions […]
18 hours ago
(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...
Sponsored Content by OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here's what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

Sponsored Articles

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...
Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.
(Pexels Photo)...

Sports gambling can be fun for adults, but it’s a dangerous game for children

While adults may find that sports gambling is a way to enhance the experience with more than just fandom on the line, it can be a dangerous proposition if children get involved in the activity.
...
Quantum Fiber

How high-speed fiber internet edges out cable for everyday use

In a world where technology drives so much of our daily lives, a lack of high-speed internet can be a major issue.
Mobile sports bets booming in some states as others shy away