Will 2022 be the Biggest Betting Year in NFL History?

Expect an NFL betting BOOM in 2022.

Sports betting in the United States is no longer consigned to just visiting casinos in Las Vegas. With the removal of PASPA in 2018 by the Supreme Court, many states have introduced legal online sports betting. This has allowed residents in those states to place bets on their favorite sports via their mobile devices. The biggest and most popular sport in the US is football, so naturally, there has been a considerable increase in gambling activity in the NFL since that landmark decision in 2018.

NFL BETTING SEES AN INCREASE

According to research, more Americans than ever placed wagers on NFL games during the 2021 season. This comes as more states with big NFL teams continue to legalize online gambling, launching operators such as BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel. The majority of bets are now placed on mobile devices, with operators now offering a huge range of betting opportunities on their football betting apps

According to data from the American Gaming Association, an estimated 45.2 million Americans got involved in NFL wagering in some form in the 2021 season, which was up 36% from the previous year. The total amount wagered on the 2021 season is still being counted, although forecasters estimated at least $12 billion would be wagered in total across the campaign. 

The significant uptick comes as legal sports betting continues to spread across the US. There were eight more states that had a legal sports betting industry at the beginning of the 2021 NFL season than at the start of the 2020 season. There are likely to be even more states offering legal wagering before the 2022 season gets underway, which should see the volume increase even further. 

NFL CHANGES STANCE ON BETTING

In the past, the NFL was firmly against legal sports wagering. It joined US leagues in suing New Jersey to stop legalization in 2012, citing integrity concerns. However, it has gradually reversed course since the Supreme Court decision.

The NFL now has seven partnerships with gambling operators: FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Entertainment, BetMGM, Fox Bet, PointsBet, and WynnBET. Those partnerships permit the operators to purchase NFL advertising and media inventory, in addition to using NFL logos for retail and online sports wagering.

The NFL now also allows sports betting commercials to air during game broadcasts, further highlighting their softer stance on betting in general. Stadiums in states with legal sports wagering can also have betting lounges, although only online betting is permitted as no in-person bets are allowed.

This change in attitude towards sports betting has been a financial boon for the league. The NFL has revealed it expects to generate roughly $270 million in revenue from gambling deals and sports betting and is projecting the practice to be worth more than $1 billion within the decade.

In total, the NFL and its teams have signed 52 marketing and data-sharing partnerships since 2018, showing the pace at which betting has become a big part of the NFL’s overall strategy.

WHAT WILL 2022 HOLD?

If the recent NFL Draft is any indicator, there will be another massive jump in betting activity in the 2022 NFL season. Lots of bettors placed wagers on where they predicted each college prospect would be selected in the draft, with operators reporting lots of activity in the build-up and during the event, which was held in Las Vegas last week. 

There has already been a new state added to the list of jurisdictions with a legal sports betting market, as Maine signed a bill into law paving the way for legal wagers. Lawmakers will likely be planning to launch legal sports betting in time for the new NFL season, which begins in September. With more states hoping to go live by September, it seems very likely the $12billion figure recorded over the 2021 season will be surpassed by a wide margin.

With Futures markets already available for the 2023 Super Bowl, it is never too early to place an NFL bet. Gambling operators will be hoping 2022 is another landmark year for NFL betting.

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