$668,603,360,342 - that's how much people have legally bet on sports since the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling

By Weston Blasi

 States have collected over $12 billion in tax revenue from sports betting since it was legalized in some states 

 Fans walk past a FanDuel sports betting location in Phoenix. The ban on sports betting was lifted eight years ago this week. 

 This week marks the eighth anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and allowed states to begin legislating sports betting. 

 Since then, there have been billions of dollars wagered, dozens of sports-betting scandals and multiple twists and turns in the industry that insiders never saw coming. Those include sports-betting legislation being blocked in some of the biggest U.S. states like California, and prediction-market operators like Kalshi and Robinhood (HOOD) emerging with sports events contracts offerings. 

 Eight years later, here are some of the biggest numbers and themes to know. 

 $668,603,360,342 wagered 

 Over half a trillion dollars has been wagered at legal U.S. sportsbooks in the past eight years. The amount of money wagered - also known as "handle" - is publicly reported by each state where gambling has been legalized and is compiled by LegalSportsReport. 

 Each year since 2018, the total U.S. handle has surpassed that of the previous year. And while Americans may think Nevada - home of gambling mecca Las Vegas - would be the state with the most handle, other states have overtaken the Silver State in recent years. 

 New York has the highest total handle since 2018 at $91 billion, followed by New Jersey ($73 billion), Illinois ($62 billion) and then Nevada ($55 billion). 

 New York's dominance is likely due to New York City's large population, wealth among residents, and generally being a city with a lot of sports interest and sports teams. The state's supremacy in the sports-betting space is also noteworthy because New York only legalized online sports wagering in 2022. 

 $12,173,697,064 in taxes 

 States have collected over $12 billion in tax revenue from sports betting since 2018, per LegalSportsReport. 

 New York leads the way with $4.2 billion in total taxes collected, followed by Illinois ($1.2 billion), Pennsylvania ($988 million) and New Jersey ($887 million). 

 With some exceptions, states seen as bigger markets tend to have higher tax rates, as they have greater leverage to bargain with the sports-betting operators. Each state negotiated its own tax rate with operators during the legalization process. 

 To be clear, the taxes collected are on the revenue earned by operators that offer betting, such as DraftKings (DKNG) , FanDuel (FLUT) and Caesars (CZR). Those are not the taxes that individuals are obligated to pay on their sports-betting winnings. 

 39 states now offer legal wagering 

 Thirty-nine states plus Washington, D.C., now offer some form of legal sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association. 

 Despite the wide adoption, many of the most populous states in the nation, including Texas, have yet to enact sports-betting legislation, signaling opportunity for further industry growth. 

 Meanwhile, illegal gaming remains a huge problem. A 2026 AGA analysis showed that unregulated gaming devices, offshore sportsbooks and illegal online casinos generate approximately $53.9 billion in revenue each year, depriving states of more than $15 billion in lost tax revenue. 

 Prediction-market disruption 

 In the first several years after the Supreme Court's PASPA ruling, many of the top sports-betting operators enjoyed a period of growing handle and rising stock prices. 

 But over the last few years, prediction markets have disrupted the sports-betting market with their sports-themed event contract offerings. 

 Prediction markets, while not technically traditional sportsbooks, still allow users to risk money on sports games - as well as other things like the price of a barrel of oil or Federal Reserve interest rates. 

 Prediction markets allow users to buy event contracts with "yes" or "no" outcomes, such as: "Will France win the World Cup?" Each contract must have a "yes" or "no" outcome and will range in price between 1 cent and 99 cents, representing what the collective market thinks about the likelihood of an event. 

 While it remains to be seen how much prediction markets will impact traditional sports-betting companies in the long term, several prediction markets saw huge trading volume for sports events this year. Some of the most-used prediction markets saw a total of $1.5 billion traded on Super Bowl LX last February. By comparison, $1.76 billion was legally wagered through traditional sportsbooks, according to the AGA. 

 Traditional sports betting, through companies like DraftKings and FanDuel, is regulated and legislated by U.S. states, and there are states where Americans still cannot legally bet on sports. But prediction markets are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency, and are currently allowed in every state (with some exceptions). The difference has given prediction-market companies access to a larger share of the U.S. market. 

 Prediction markets have come under fire for creating event contracts related to some geopolitical events, such as military action by the United States in Venezuela, as well as for suspicious activity surrounding crude-oil futures during the U.S.-Iran war. 

 Eight years into the sports-betting craze, the industry is still grappling with the simple idea of what a "sports wager" actually is. And both sportsbooks and prediction markets want a piece of the pie, which could be worth trillions by the time another anniversary rolls around. 

 -Weston Blasi 

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05-16-26 0944ET

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