United States · Federal (Congress, Commodity Futures Trading Commission) · COFOG 04.7

Gambling and Betting

This area covers what Americans may stake money on and under whose rules — sports betting, online casino games, and the newer contracts that pay out on an outcome without being called gambling. It does not cover state lotteries, the tribal gaming compacts, or ordinary securities trading.

Where things stand

Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban in 2018, sports betting has gone from illegal almost everywhere to legal in 39 jurisdictions, about 31 of them with statewide betting on a phone. Americans wagered 166.94 billion dollars legally on sports in 2025, 11 percent more than the year before; sportsbooks kept 16.96 billion of it and state treasuries collected 3.71 billion in tax. The harm arrived with the volume and is visible in the one place that counts it: the national problem gambling helpline now takes more than 31,000 contacts a month, nearly half of them from people aged 18 to 34, and online or app-based gambling has risen from 23 to 31 percent of what callers name as their main problem. More than 73 percent of callers report financial stress connected to their gambling, up from 66 percent a year earlier. Two markets have meanwhile grown up alongside the licensed one and outside its rules. Sweepstakes casinos, which run casino games on a two-currency system so that the stake is nominally free, reached about 7.2 billion dollars of consumer spending, and eleven states have banned them since 2025. Prediction markets sell contracts that pay out on the result of a game, are regulated as financial derivatives rather than as gambling, and took 1.7 billion dollars of notional volume in June 2026 alone, roughly four fifths of it on sport; thirteen states are in litigation or enforcement against them.

Facts & figures

166.94 billion dollars

Legally wagered on sports in a year

↗ rising 11%, a record

16.96 billion dollars

Kept by sportsbooks; state treasuries collected 3.71 billion in tax

↗ rising 22.8%, faster than the amount wagered

39 jurisdictions

With legal sports betting; about 31 allow it statewide on a phone

↗ rising from none before 2018

31,000 a month

Contacts to the national problem gambling helpline; 49 percent are aged 18 to 34

↗ rising, and getting younger

31%

Share of helpline callers naming online or app-based gambling as their main problem

↗ rising from 23% a year earlier, as machines decline

73%

Callers reporting financial stress connected to their gambling

↗ rising from 66% in 2024

1.7 billion dollars

Notional volume on one prediction market in a single month, about four fifths of it on sport

↗ rising fast; 13 states in litigation or enforcement

7.2 billion dollars

Consumer spending on sweepstakes casinos, which run on a two-currency system

↗ rising from 4.8 billion in 2023; 11 states have banned them

Sources: Sports Handle, US sports betting revenue and handle database · National Council on Problem Gambling, National Problem Gambling Helpline Annual Report · DLA Piper, Legal status at odds: tracking developments in prediction markets and sports betting · InfoLawGroup, Sweepstakes Casino Laws in 2026 — as of 2025–2026, last reviewed 09/2026

Overview

all proposals on the future scale · click a box → proposal

much
worseworsebalancedbettermuch
better

3× better · 3 on the previous scale (r) Scale: share of runs in which for − against > 0 · Scoring v1.3

Proposals

3 evaluated · sorted by balance

Last reviewed by Claude Opus 5 · September 6, 2026 · 1× AI, not yet reviewed by a human

September 6, 2026AI reviewClaude Opus 5First evaluation
Area created for the English side: definition, situation and key figures researched against official and industry statistics.

Evaluations are produced with AI support and reviewed on a schedule for new developments; human passes are marked separately.How we review →

Evaluated with the Global Debate Evaluation Standard (GDES), Scoring v1.3 · global scale, comparable across areas · How we score →