Legal sports betting might be exploding in the U.S., but the black market is still a big part of the overall landscape — and not just where betting is illegal.
More than a third of sports bettors in legal states have an account with an offshore sportsbook, according to a new Covers survey examining betting habits. Of the 5,100 respondents surveyed, 33.9% admit to using at least one offshore sports betting site.
As of August 2024, 38 states and the District of Columbia have sports betting legislation in place. And while the nation's best sportsbooks (including FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM) have successfully built sports betting clienteles in the millions, there's still a healthy appetite for black market betting in the U.S.
That number might have been even higher were it not for several states sending cease-and-desist letters to offshore giant Bovada, which has restricted wagering in the majority of these areas (a list that includes Michigan, New York, and Colorado). And more illegal sportsbooks could be on the proverbial chopping block as states with legal frameworks look to eliminate offshore activity.
Survey Methodology
We surveyed 5,100 respondents, with the demographic breakdowns as follows:
What is your gender?
| Male | 54.2% |
| Female | 44.8% |
| Non-binary | 1% |
Sports betting popularity's rapid growth among women is reflected in the gender division of our respondents, with women making up nearly 45% of our survey participants.
How old are you?
| 25-34 | 35.9% |
| 35-44 | 25% |
| 45-54 | 19.2% |
| 18-24 | 15.5% |
| 65+ | 4.3% |
A majority of participants have been of legal age to wager since sports betting in the U.S. first became legal outside Nevada in 2018, with the 18-24 cohort coming in as the second-smallest (ahead of only the 65+ group).
What is your average weekly stake?
| Less than $10 | 41.8% |
| $10-24 | 22.3% |
| $25-49 | 16.6% |
| $50-99 | 10.8% |
| $100+ | 8.5% |
More than two in five respondents spend less than $10 per week on their bets — quite possibly the most significant bit of context, as it reflects the industry-wide trend in which most bettors spend no more than $25 per week on the activity.
On a scale of 1-10, how capable a bettor do you consider yourself to be?
| 5 | 15.1% |
| 6 | 13.5% |
| 7 | 13.1% |
| 1 | 11.4% |
| 4 | 11% |
| 3 | 10.7% |
| 8 | 10% |
| 2 | 8.5% |
| 10 | 3.5% |
| 9 | 3.1% |
Our participants are a humble bunch when it comes to assessing their sports betting performance and knowledge base, coming in with an average score of 4.97 on a scale of 1-10.
Offshore betting interest isn't going away
Covers' survey reveals that states could see further interest in offshore activity depending on certain circumstances players might face with their legal books. Here's a look at the relevant results:
Would you sign up for an offshore sportsbook if legal sports betting were no longer available?
| Yes | 43.1% |
| No | 56.9% |
Would you sign up for an offshore sportsbook if your legal sportsbook limited your wager amount?
| Yes | 39.1% |
| No | 60.9% |
Would you sign up for an offshore sportsbook if your legal sportsbook removed player prop betting?
| Yes | 35.4% |
| No | 64.6% |
The final result might be the most concerning one, with more than 35% saying they would turn to the black market if player-prop betting were not allowed. It's worth noting that, while 33.9% of bettors in legal states use at least one offshore sportsbook, that number rises to 36.7% in legal states where college player props are banned.
At present, 15 states have prohibited college player prop betting, including high-revenue regions like New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Ohio. More are expected at some point, and the purge might eventually spread to other player prop markets.
Bettors want politics and pop culture markets
It turns out that taking the "sports" out of sports betting markets isn't necessarily a bad idea. Here's a look at how our respondents feel about the potential for wagering on events outside the sports realm on their legal sports betting apps:
Would you bet on U.S. politics/elections if they were legal and available on sportsbooks?
| Yes | 56.5% |
| No | 43.5% |
Sports betting sites in the U.S. are not permitted to offer legal politics wagering — and it's clear that this represents an opportunity lost for operators, with the volume of betting action in areas like Canada and the U.K. expected to dwarf what they see for major sporting events like the Super Bowl. Our latest U.S. presidential odds have Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in a dead heat at -110 on bet365.
Would you make novelty/pop culture bets if they were legal and available on sportsbooks?
| Yes | 60.2% |
| No | 39.8% |
As popular as betting on election results would be, survey participants are even more excited about the prospect of wagering on pop culture markets.
Most novelty betting opportunities offered in Canada and the U.K. (Super Bowl halftime show act, for example) are not available in the U.S., while others (Oscars markets, etc.) are only legal in a handful of states. Legislators steer clear of Super Bowl markets that have no impact on the game itself, while markets with pre-determined outcomes raise serious red flags among lawmakers due to the potential for insider information leaks.
Respondents are unaffected by recent betting controversies
There has never been more scrutiny of legal sports betting in the U.S., thanks in large part to a spate of betting controversies within the sports world itself. According to Covers' Integrity Monitor, there have been major betting incidents in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, NCAA football, college baseball, the Canadian Football League, the English Premier League and men's pro tennis in the past 12 months alone.
Two, in particular, led to significant consequences for those involved.
- Former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter was given a lifetime ban from the NBA for betting on game outcomes, providing insider information, and manipulating his participation in a handful of games to ensure certain prop wagers would cash; he later pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- Ippei Mizuhara, the former translator for Los Angeles Dodgers mega-star Shohei Ohtani, agreed to plead guilty to bank wire fraud after allegedly stealing $17 million from Ohtani to pay off gambling debts.
Here's how our survey respondents feel about the rash of sports betting scandals:
Have recent sports betting controversies impacted your view of the industry?
| No, I feel the same as before | 75.8% |
| Yes, it has negatively affected my view | 16.6% |
| Yes, it has positively affected my view | 7.5% |
Leagues and federations have an obvious responsibility to ensure that betting incidents are eliminated, but five in six bettors who participated in the Covers survey are either unaffected or encouraged by the series of scandals that have rocked a wide variety of sports over the past year.
Those who spend more get limited – and players hate the idea
The discourse surrounding "limiting" winning sports bettors has caught fire in recent months, with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission still looking for clarity on why sportsbooks are choosing to restrict betting limits for certain players, and how many of these players are being limited.
Seeking answers has been an exercise in frustration for the MGC, which held a roundtable on the topic in May only for none of the sportsbooks to show up.
Representatives from various operators have at least responded with high-level answers; most notably, that "a very low percentage of players are limited." Our survey probes what percentage of players are actually being limited — and it's likely higher than the sportsbooks are letting on:
Have you ever been limited on how much you can bet by a sportsbook?
| Yes | 22.4% |
| No | 77.6% |
This might not seem like a big number, but when you consider DraftKings CEO Jason Robins told the Wall Street Journal in a statement that his sports betting site "restrict(s) less than 1% of players below the market limit based largely on betting behaviors," there's a clear disconnect between sportsbooks and players.
Consider, as well, the impact the average weekly stake has on whether players are limited. Only 9% of those who spend $10 or less have had caps put on their wagers, while a whopping 38.1% with weekly budgets north of $50 say they have been limited.
Regardless of whether our survey or Robins' assertion is closer to the actual number, there's no disputing that players strongly detest the idea of winning players being hit with lower bet limits:
Do you believe winning players should be limited by sportsbooks?
| No | 57.8% |
| I don't know | 31% |
| Yes | 11.2% |
The most intriguing part of this response is the size of the group in the middle. Given the fact that our respondents skew largely casual, it's possible that they haven't given much thought to the notion of limiting because they haven't been limited themselves.
Parlay fever? Not exactly
Few sports betting topics stir up more divisiveness than the parlay. It seems that bettors either love them or hate them – and the results of the Covers survey do little to disprove that assumption:
Have you ever placed a parlay bet?
| Yes | 58.3% |
| No | 41.7% |
For as much digital ink has been spilled on the over-saturation of parlays across all sportsbooks, fewer than three in five respondents have ever made even one parlay wager. This reinforces the notion that those who love parlay betting really love betting parlays — how else would DraftKings, FanDuel, and other marquee sports betting sites derive so much of their monthly revenue from them?
How many legs/selections do you normally include in your parlay?
| 3 | 39.9% |
| 4 | 29% |
| 2 | 15.1% |
| 5 | 9.4% |
| 7+ | 3.8% |
| 6 | 2.9% |
Average: 3.43
Based on the fact that most pre-fab parlay options are exactly three legs, this result isn't that surprising. It is notable, however, that two-leg parlays are more popular than those with five-plus selections, suggesting more players are keen on playing it safe (at least, to the extent that parlays can be safe) over trying to hit a home run.
What is the average amount you wager on your parlays?
| $6-10 | 36.2% |
| $11-20 | 25.1% |
| $1-5 | 24.7% |
| $21+ | 14% |
So much for "a buck and a dream." The average parlay wager based on our survey responses is higher than you might expect, which would also help explain why parlay handles contribute such a high percentage of the top sportsbooks' overall monthly take.
Other survey results
Aside from sports betting, what other kinds of gambling activities do you participate in?
| Cryptocurrency | 32.7% |
| None of the above | 28% |
| Slots | 27.8% |
| Table games | 24.1% |
| Day trading stocks | 23.5% |
| Poker | 23.2% |
| Horse racing | 13.9% |
Respondents offered up a wide variety of alternate gambling interests, with cryptocurrency edging out slots for the top spot. And given most are on the conservative side when it comes to average weekly bet expenditure, we probably shouldn't be shocked to see that 28% don't partake in any other notable gambling activity.
Do you actively seek out betting advice?
| No | 60.5% |
| Yes | 39.5% |
Where do you get your betting advice?
| Social media | 63.6% |
| Friends/family | 58.2% |
| Betting websites | 53.1% |
| Podcasts | 25.4% |
| Television | 10.1% |
| Other | 7.5% |
Sports betting is largely a do-it-yourself venture, with three in five respondents eschewing betting advice altogether. Of those who do seek guidance, social media is (unsurprisingly) the No. 1 place for them to do it, with friends and family and betting websites helping to make up the core of resources bettors rely on for their advice.
Here's a summary of the rest of our survey results:
- 72.7% of participants aren't familiar with microbetting (here's our breakdown of how it works), while 61.4% of those who are have placed at least one microbet. Interestingly, a whopping 76.1% of respondents said they're likely to make a microbet in the future.
- 47.5% of bettors wager on 2-3 sports, while 39.9% stick to just one. This might speak to the evolution and maturity of the U.S. legal betting market, with players recognizing in larger numbers that focusing on a few sports at most is preferable to spreading those betting funds too thin.
- Roughly half of participants spend less than 15 minutes on their sports betting research, while 29.4% will dig in for 15-30 minutes. This meshes well with social media being at the top of the list of preferred sources for advice.
