Sports Betting V Casinos: Which generates the most revenue?

Recent years have seen a revolution in the world of betting. Like so many elements of modern life, this has been largely driven by the growth of the internet. This has introduced many different ways for people to bet in addition to the more traditional methods of attending a casino or using an official bookmaker.

While it’s moving this way, it has not been a truly global phenomenon. Some countries, like China, still officially ban all gambling – although it does make an exception in the case of Macau. Others, for example, the US and the UK, have embraced the changes wholeheartedly. As a result, this has seen a gradual rise in gambling revenues, which today are reaching previously unattainable heights. The advances in betting have not been simply technological. They have been legal, too. The biggest single example of this came in 2018 with the historic decision of the US Supreme Court to overturn the long-standing ban on sports betting.

Instead, it’s now permitted for individual states to set their own rules on the practice, something that has been embraced by many in the last six years. It’s a change that might be national, but already it’s starting to have global implications.

An overview of the betting world

Traditionally speaking, the casino has long been at the heart of the betting world. Ever since these establishments started springing up in the 18th century, they have grown in popularity and inclusivity around the world. Once the preserve of the rich and privileged, today, they welcome everyone who meets the specific age requirements for their area.

There are two big centres of the so-called brick and mortar casino world and these are Las Vegas and Macau and both generate huge respective revenues. In 2023 the former saw a figure of almost $11 billion while its Far Eastern counterpart more than double this at $22.3 billion. However, the other sector that has been providing competition for the traditional casino is the online alternative.

There has been an explosion in these sites over the last couple of decades, so much so that it’s impossible to quantify how many are actually in operation. This has proved to be quite a confusing situation for players looking for where to indulge in their pastime. Luckily a number of review sites have sprung up to show the way. For example, for Canadian gamblers in New Brunswick, Casino.ca ranks the best in the province. This is a great help in enabling them to make the best choice in a country where the activity is increasingly popular. Moving on to sports betting, this has also always been popular, whether on horse racing, soccer or any other sport you care to mention. Sport has always been a big money generator in its own right, especially for economies, including in the UK. The Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling has had the effect of seeing many more sportsbooks than ever before being launched, with a corresponding rise in revenue.

A look at the figures

For the purposes of this comparison between sports betting and casinos we’re going to concentrate on the countries of North America, the US and Canada. This is because as relatively advanced examples of the betting world they give a better assessment of how the two forms of betting perform in terms of revenue generation. They also give an indication of the direction that the rest of the betting world may be headed.

In the US, the American Gaming Association tracks the revenue of the activity. In 2023, it reported that a total of $53.24 billion in revenue was generated between January and September and this was divided as follows. $37.2 billion was raised by traditional casinos and $6.03 billion by online ones. Sports betting, on the other hand, raised $9.96 billion. Overall, this was 8.1% higher than in 2022, and the greatest growth was in sports betting, which saw a 33.6% increase. The figures for Canada are unsurprisingly lower, with a total gambling revenue in 2024 predicted to be a little under $4.2 billion. Of this, around half will be from sports betting. There is also an optimistic growth forecast of over 15% a year until 2030 at least.

So, who wins?

As the figures clearly show, it’s casinos, both online and offline, that are by far the biggest revenue generators, for the moment at least. But sports betting is showing remarkable growth, driven by the availability of sportsbooks and the increasing number of sports that feature on them. That said, it will be a long time until sports betting overthrows casinos in terms of revenue if it ever does. But that’s not to say that the two can’t co-exist very happily, as demand is likely to continue growing for both.