Bet History

Betting in America has experienced unimaginable progress, especially in the past three decades. Betting on sport events is the most popular form of illegal betting in the U.S. and is one of the fastest growing forms of legalized gambling. Sports wagering is commonplace from the nation’s factories to the boardroom. The growth in the popularity of legal sports wagering can be attributed to many factors. These same factors have contributed to the explosive growth and interest in illegal bet around the nation.

The rise of professional sports, especially televised professional football, has brought about significant increases in the volume of bet in the United States. Moreover, legalized sports wagering in Nevada flourished considerably when the federal gambling tax was gradually reduced from 10 percent to 2 percent from 1975 to 1979. The sports handle increased dramatically from less than $41 million in 1973 to almost $258.7 million by 1979.

Gambling on sporting events involves large amounts of money, but just how large may be impossible to determine, because most bet is done illegally. The so-called “third wave” of bet in European-North American history, conceptualized by bet authority I. Nelson Rose reached towards a crest during the past decade. However, the one notable exception to this liberalizing trend is bet on sports. Nevada has 142 legal sports books that allow wagering on professional and amateur. The only amateur sporting events that sports books allow betting on are collegiate and some Olympic sports.

Nevada’s sports books gross gambling revenues (GGR) for 1994 were $118.6 million. Gross gambling revenue is used because it is a true measure of the economic value of bet. In 1998, legal bookmaking operations' gross gambling revenue was $122.5 million. Betting on college events accounted for 33 percent of the total sports wagering revenue, or $40 million. The decline in sports book retention is due in large part to increased competition from Internet wagering on sports. The betting action in Nevada sports books breaks down as follows: professional and college football combined? 39%, professional and college basketball combined? 34.5%, baseball? 23%, and hockey? 2%. Boxing, golf, and tennis wagering make up the remaining 1.5%. These rankings are similar to the transactions handled by illegal bookmakers; the difference is that professional football games draw an even larger share of the illegal betting action.

The actual wagering can occur under a variety of circumstances. The most common of which are: a bet between friends on an individual game, an office pool (i.e. NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament), fantasy football or hockey drafts (drafting and auctioning players based on their actual performance), in a legal sports book in the State of Nevada, or with an illegal bookmaker or bookie. The majority of bet in America occurs between friends or acquaintances and involves relatively small amounts of money. Another large portion of the bet population wagers larger sums of money with illegal bookmakers. From small towns to large metropolises, cities in the United States are inundated with vast networks of illegal bookies. The total dollar volume of bet in this country can only be approximated, like any illegal activity it is near impossible to determine the actual amount of money transferred. However, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission in 1999, estimated that the scope of illegal bet in the United States ranges anywhere from $80 billion to $380 billion annually, making bet the most widespread and popular form of gambling in America.