The National Football League is back, and with it comes billions in bets to be placed on the games. When it comes to sports betting in America, the NFL is king. And that position is only getting stronger, thanks to last year's U.S. Supreme Court case that lifted the decades-old federal law that limited sports wagering to only Nevada.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released its 2019 NFL Betting Plans survey, and it shows that more Americans are ready to put some money on pro football. "Almost 40 million Americans are going to bet on the NFL this season...that's almost 15 percent of the country," says the AGA's David Forman. "Almost seven million people are going to bet legally at a casino sports book this year---that's more than a million more than said they would bet that way last year."
Unfortunately for Texas bettors, the Lone Star State is not among the places you will find any of those casinos. Texas has been slow to adopt any form of legalized gambling, and Forman believes the state is missing out on a huge opportunity. "Today, you can bet (on sports) in 13 states, with more on the way, and I think Texas is a great example of one of those states where there is, not surprisingly, a huge appetite," he says. "If you ask Texans what they plan to do this year, 16 percent of people in Texas are going to bet on the NFL, but 26 percent would bet, and would like to, if it was legal."