Sports Betting Assists Local Economies in Times of Struggle

Benefitted State Economies Online Betting

Legalized Online Sports Betting Benefitted State Economies in 2020

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 23 December 2020

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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When it comes to the world of sports and sports betting, 2020 has been a very difficult year. With casinos and retail sportsbooks closing for several months, along with live sports shutting down for weeks on end, both sports fans and sportsbook operators have been affected.

The global pandemic has had a huge impact on many industries, with the sports and gambling industries being among them.

Of course, it is not just industries and businesses that have been hit by the pandemic, but also state economies. Many have suffered due to the closure of local businesses, restrictions on travel and tourism, and rising unemployment levels. Some states, however, have been able to soften the blow thanks to revenue generated by legalized online sports betting.

A Means of Boosting State Revenue

At the start of this year, legalized online sports betting was available in a limited number of states. However, over the course of the year – even in the midst of the pandemic – many states launched legalized sports betting including Colorado and Tennessee.

States reported seeing a high level of success upon launching sports betting despite the ongoing pandemic. In Colorado, the launch took place in May during the peak of the first pandemic. Nevertheless, officials reported great success with the launch.

At the time, the Colorado Division of Gaming director Dan Hartman said:

Even with the limited number of sporting events to bet on, the division, along with the four operators, feel like the first 10 days of legalized sports betting have been successful.

While live sports were not running at the time, sportsbooks found various innovative ways to provide users with betting opportunities. This included everything from betting on foreign sports to betting on ping pong and more obscure events.

Crucially, states that launched legalized online sports betting and those that already had it in place have been able to boost state revenue during what has been an extremely challenging year in terms of finances and economic difficulties.

Easy Access to Sports Betting

During the peak of the pandemic in the spring, people were unable to visit sportsbooks in person to place bets, as retail facilities and casinos were closed for several months. However, in states where legal online sports betting was launched, fans were able to place bets on their computers or smart devices without the need to visit a casino.

Some states require in-person registration even to use online sportsbooks, which posed a real problem when it came to people registering, as the brick-and-mortar sportsbooks were closed. Illinois had an answer though, with the governor removing the need for in-person registration, allowing sports fans to register online. This order has been extended several times already.

Many other states are still pushing to get sports betting legalized, and there are some where it has been legalized but not yet launched. As more states get on board with sports betting, their respective economies should receive a valuable boost that could help to reduce the financial impact of what has been a terrible year for businesses, individuals, and economies.