Although sports betting growth may have slowed down from the 2021-2022 peak, sports fans worldwide still wager tens of billions of dollars each year. In 2024, they shelled out over $70 billion on online and offline sports bets, a figure expected to jump over $77 billion this year. With market revenue growing by nearly 10% annually, the cumulative five-year figure will jump to shocking highs.
According to data presented by Betideas.com, sports fans have shelled out nearly $350 billion on bets since 2020, or 70 times more than the total cost of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Nearly 40% of Total Spending Came from Only Three Countries
The legalization of online betting, combined with cutting-edge technology, has triggered a surge in sports betting, with the industry drawing millions of new users and generating more revenue than ever. Since 2020, nearly 100 million people have joined online betting platforms, pushing the global user base to almost 200 million this year. This massive user base has spent a staggering amount of money on wagers.
According to the Statista Market Forecast, annual sports betting revenue has more than doubled since 2020, reaching over $77 billion this year and pushing the five-year total to a staggering $350 billion. To put this into perspective, sports fans wagered nearly 70 times the total cost of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which was around $5.5 billion. That’s also seven times the combined value of the top ten Premier League clubs. With this amount, fans could have bought roughly 2,000 private jets or nearly 15,000 superyachts.
Most of that figure, or roughly $195 billion, came from online sports bets, while offline wagers accounted for about $50 billion less. Statista also gave an interesting insight into which countries are home to the largest betting nations.
Nearly 40% of the total five-year wagers, or around $136 billion, came from the world’s three largest sports betting markets, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Americans alone wagered over $65 billion since 2020, nearly matching the combined total of Australians ($40 billion) and Britons ($31 billion).
Sports Fans to Wager Another $350 Billion by 2029, Pushing the 10-Year Total to $700 Billion
Innovative user experience, like in-play betting, AI predictions, and digital sportsbooks, has been one of the biggest drivers of sports betting’s growth, and according to Statista, this trend remains strong.
Statista expects another 34 million users to join betting apps and platforms in the next four years, pushing the total user count to nearly 232 million. This massive user base will spend even more on wagers. According to Statista projections, the annual sports betting revenue will increase by 22% in this period, reaching almost $95 billion, with sports fans shelling out another $350 billion on wagers by 2029.