On average, states that have legalized sports gambling are 25% richer than they were prior to introducing the activity. This is the takeaway from research conducted for the American Gaming Association (AGA), which revealed that illegal sportsbooks have already lost a quarter of their revenue in the U.S. as gamblers move from offshore sports gambling ops to legal bookmakers. Given that the coronavirus brought a halt to all major sports action in the U.S. for several months, that number could have been – and will be – much higher going forward.

The AGA, the gaming industry’s biggest lobbyists on Capitol Hill, had Heart + Mind Strategies conduct the survey, and the findings show that gamblers are doing exactly what legalization proponents had asserted all along. Gamblers are going to gamble, no matter what, but they would prefer to do it legally. According to Bill Miller, the president and CEO of AGA, We’ve known for a long time that Americans like to bet on sports. This research affirms their interest in moving toward the protections of the legal market.”

The survey was reportedly carried out with 3,451 participants between last December and this past January. In addition to the 25% attrition seen by the offshore bookies, legal online sportsbooks saw their take increase by 12%. That, however, was apparently slightly offset by a 3% increase in offshore gambling spending, most likely as this segment offered greater incentives to hold onto its market share.

Part of the reason for the transition to legal sports gambling channels was due to the increased level of confidence gamblers felt when dealing with state-approved operations. 25% of the respondents indicated that this was the main impetus for the switch, while 20% indicated that they were just becoming aware that legal options existed. Another 19% stated that they simply preferred to use a regulated sportsbook.