Jose Sanchez
Research expert covering society, economy, & politics for Latin America
Sports betting worldwide - statistics & facts
History tells us that as long as spectator sports have existed, people have bet on them. The first recorded instance of this came in Ancient Greece, when punters speculated on the outcome of the Olympic Games. Since then, the sports betting market has undergone countless evolutions and grown into an industry with a market size totaling over 87 billion U.S. dollars in 2025. One such evolution has been the rise of online sports betting, which has made accessibility to sportsbooks unprecedentedly easy, while also compounding the potential risks associated with problem gambling. Having overtaken in-person sports betting in market size in 2021, online sports betting accounted for more than half of the total industry revenue in 2024 and was projected to grow to around 73 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
What are the biggest sports betting markets?
When it comes to the total amount wagered on sports by continent, Asia is by far the largest sports betting market globally, accounting for over 60 percent of total sports betting handle in 2024. However, with sports betting only being legal in some U.S. states since 2018, the burgeoning sports betting industry in the United States is expected to continue growing, having grown by around 12 billion U.S. dollars in market size year-on-year between 2021 and 2025. Meanwhile, the most popular sport by betting handle in 2024 was soccer, with over 779 billion U.S. dollars wagered on it. In fact, bets on soccer made up around half of the total sports betting handle worldwide that year, with approximately 60 percent of bets wagered on sports in Asia going solely on soccer.
What are the biggest sports betting companies in the world?
In 2025, FanDuel, DraftKings, and Marina Bay Sands ranked as the most valuable sports betting companies worldwide. As online sportsbooks, these companies have been able to ride the wave of growth that has propelled online sports betting into the dominant sector it has become. This is clearly illustrated by the revenue of DraftKings Inc., which grew by 985 percent between 2020 and 2025. However, with 45 percent of sports bettors worldwide saying they did not have a preferred online sportsbook as of 2024, the room for smaller and prospective betting companies to get a firm footing in the market is considerable.
What does the future hold for sports betting?
With each country able to shape its own legislation for sports betting, it is difficult to make blanket statements on the future of the industry on a global scale. Nevertheless, as a market that has existed for multiple millennia, consumer demand is likely to remain robust. When coupled with greater ease of access to betting platforms via digital devices, the burden of responsibility for consumer safeguarding is also heightened. This is especially the case for the U.S., which is poised to become an ever-larger sports betting market in the coming years, however, one that is relatively inexperienced in dealing with problem gambling outside of traditional settings such as casinos. In this regard, regulators in the U.S. may find themselves looking across the pond, with sports betting in the United Kingdom having come under increased scrutiny and regulation in recent years.
