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UKOnline Sports Betting Adoption Climbs From 19% to 27% in Two Years
Key Highlights
- A new national survey shows 27% of Americans currently have active online sports betting accounts, up from 22% last year and 19% in 2024.
- The steady growth suggests sports betting continues gaining mainstream acceptance even as betting volume growth slows in some established markets.
- Researchers from Siena Research Institute and St. Bonaventure University conducted the survey, tracking adoption trends across the United States.
Sports betting revenue was down in the US during Q2 2026, but more than one-quarter of Americans now have an active sportsbook account, according to an American Sport Fanship Survey (ASFS) involving 3,084 adults.
Sports Betting Activity Continues to Rise
Conducted in February 2026, the ASFS survey revealed 27% of adults have an active sportsbook account, up from 22% in 2025 and 19% in 2024. About one-quarter of Americans said they’ve opened a sportsbook account at some point, showing how quickly legal online betting has entered the mainstream since a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2018.
Betting is even more common among younger men. More than half of men ages 18 to 49 said they had an active sportsbook account, making that group one of the most active parts of the market. The numbers suggest sports betting is becoming a regular part of how many fans watch games, follow teams, and interact with major sporting events.
The steady rise also shows that sportsbook growth isn’t only coming from current customers betting more often. New users continue to enter the market as legal betting expands and mobile apps make wagering easy to access. That gives operators a larger customer base, even as other parts of the business start to show signs of slowing.
Responsible Gambling Concerns Grow
Higher betting activity has also raised more concerns about problem gambling. Sixty percent of bettors said they had chased a previous loss, up from 52% in 2025. Another 42% said they had bet more money than they felt they should, which points to growing risks as participation increases.
More bettors are also hearing concerns from people around them. About 31% said someone had expressed worry about their sportsbook use, compared with 23% a year earlier. These signs matter because betting apps make it possible to place wagers at almost any time, often within seconds.
Public support for stronger protections is rising as well. More Americans now favor tougher rules aimed at reducing harmful gambling habits, while many also question how often sportsbook ads appear during live sports. Similarly, several states have introduced bills aimed at curbing problem gambling behavior; New Jersey lawmakers in May proposed mandatory monthly sportsbook push notifications for betting summaries, while a Colorado sports betting bill aims to place limits on advertising.
Sports Betting Revenue Starts to Cool
Even with the increase in customers, sportsbook revenue is no longer growing at the same pace. U.S. commercial sports betting revenue fell about 0.2% year over year in the second quarter of 2026. The small decline stands out because it came while the wider commercial gaming industry continued to post overall revenue growth.
The slowdown follows a record year for sports betting in 2025. That year, revenue rose more than 22%, while total betting handle passed $166 billion. Those figures highlighted how quickly the industry has grown, but ASFS survey results suggest that pace may be harder to maintain as the market becomes more developed.
A larger customer base doesn’t always mean higher sportsbook revenue every quarter. Results can be affected by bettor wins, major sports outcomes, promotions, and changes in how much customers wager. The latest numbers point to a more mature U.S. betting market where participation can keep rising even when revenue growth becomes less consistent.
