American Gaming Association Reinforces Tackling Illicit NFL Online Betting

The American Gaming Association (AGA) is taking a stand against illegal online gambling, especially the one concerning betting on National Football League matches. A study has forecast a boost in bettors who will be placing bets on the NFL season via offshore websites.

During the season, namely, 33.2 million Americans is willing to place a form of bet on NFL games. The season began on September 10th with the match between Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs.

Smaller Sample

This is actually a decline from 38 million adults (a 12.6% drop)…

…from all the adults that were placing bets in the 2019/20 campaign, ending with Kansas City beating San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in the Super Bowl LIV.

Morning Consult carried out the study for this year on behalf of AGA that surveyed only 2200 American adults compared to 11,001 last year.

The AGA has said that, out of those that will place the bets, 34% or 11.3 million would do through legal or illegal online gambling sites, which is a 29% increase in this particular segment from last year.

Educating Customers

Bill Miller, AGA president and CEO, said that legal sports betting market in the US continues to expand and it is a good thing – however, it’s important the NFL and its teams continue to educate bettors about the dangers of betting with illegal operators.

“The NFL and its teams must continue to prioritize and act on the shared responsibility to educate customers on regulated markets and responsible gaming principles in order to realize the full benefit of legal sports betting.”

AGA has also commented that, when it comes to other forms of betting, about 6.6 million adults will be only at legal retail sports book across the country, which is a 18% boost on annual level.

The decline from 31% to 26% from the last year is in the segment of adults casually betting through pools, fantasy contests and squares.

Casual betting is also set to decline, with the AGA forecasting that half of those placing wagers, or 16.6m, will do so with friends, family of co-workers. This would be down from 53% in the previous season.

Importance of This Season

Miller also noted that the NFL drives a big amount of action from sports bettors and that this year should be no different.

“While we’ve known for a long time bettors are more engaged fans, particularly when it comes to football, continuing to drive them to the legal market is essential for protecting consumers and the integrity of the games they wager on.”

The bettors’ engagement will bear special significance in the season that was marred by the pandemic outbreak and will have its traditional schedule changed.

Source:

“AGA urges clamp-down on illegal NFL online betting”, igbnorthamerica.com, September 10th, 2020.