Written by :
Published on :
Public awareness of legal sports betting has grown in recent years – and so has the perception that it is a bad thing for society and sports, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Today, 43% of U.S. adults say the fact that sports betting is now legal in much of the country is a bad thing for society. That’s up from 34% in 2022. And 40% of adults now say it’s a bad thing for sports, up from 33%.
Despite these increasingly critical views of legal sports betting, many Americans continue to say it has neither a bad nor good impact on society and on sports. Fewer than one-in-five see positive impacts.
Today, 22% of adults say they’ve personally bet money on sports in the past year. That’s a slight uptick from 19% three years ago. This figure includes betting in any of three ways:
Commercial sports betting has spread rapidly across the United States since a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 gave states the green light to legalize it. At least 38 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico now allow commercial sports betting in some form, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
