Sports have a major role in everyday life. Most of us enjoy sports, either by being a fan or by playing. Many of us also enjoy placing bets and enjoying gambling. Sports betting has been around for centuries and has a long history. History shows that sports betting has been around for thousands of years, even though no one knows when it started.
The oldest records of sports betting date back more than 2,000 years. The ancient Greeks were passionate about sports and created the Olympic Games. The first records of betting were made as the Olympics started to travel. From the Greeks, it spread to the Romans, who enjoyed wagering on gladiator games. Furthermore, the Romans were the first to legalize sports betting. Gambling has continued to spread all over the world since then. It was during medieval times that the church attempted to prevent the pastime by passing laws forbidding it. After this, gambling was forced to go underground, but it only made it grow bigger and spread faster.
The origin of modern sports betting is primarily from horse racing. In the early 18th century, betting on horses became popular in the UK. Two-horse races became common again. By the late 19th century, countries like the United States, Canada, and New Zealand had formally established laws to govern gambling. Europe, however, has remained one of the largest markets.
Interesting facts about American sports betting
- As it was mentioned before, modern sports betting started with horse racing. And in the 1890s, more than 300 horse-racing tracks had been built all over America.
- In 1910, gambling in the United States became illegal.
- 1919 was the year of the Black Sox scandal, when eight members of the Chicago White Sox were charged with intentionally losing the series.
- Nevada legalized gambling, including betting on sports, in 1931. For decades, the state’s casinos have been the only places in the United States in which it is legal to place a sports bet.
- In 1951, the federal government imposed a 10 percent tax on the money brought in by legal sports gambling outside of Nevada.
- On September 13th, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Federal Wire Act, which prohibited the use of wire communications for interstate sports gambling. This was an attempt to limit bookmaking by organized crime groups. The law is seen as the reason sports gambling is under the purview of states and not the federal government.
- 1975 saw the opening of the first sportsbook inside a Las Vegas casino at the Union Plaza.
- Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal opened a sportsbook at the Stardust in 1976, which will become the prototype of sportsbooks to come. Robert De Niro played a character based on Rosenthal in the 1995 movie “Casino.”
- In 1983, the federal government reduced its tax on Nevada’s legal sports bets to 0.25 percent, where it remains today.
- In 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which outlaws sports gambling in states that do not already have laws allowing it. Nevada will become the only state with legal sports gambling.
- In 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This law says that companies can’t accept payments for a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet.
- The Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018, ruling that the law is not “consistent with the Constitution” and that states are free to establish their sports gambling laws lacking a federally regulated system.
- DraftKings became the first online sportsbook outside of Nevada in 2018, taking its first bets over the internet in New Jersey.
- In 2021, legal sports gambling brought in $4.33 billion in revenue.
Today’s sports betting
Since the popularity of sports gambling has increased, so has the number of events that people can wager on. With the advances in technology, betting with online bookmakers has become a new thing. People have the possibility to place a bet on different sports, events, virtual and esports etc. As the number of betting options grew, so did the process of placing a bet. There is no longer a need to hunt for a bookie. The ability to place bets is now available via online sportsbooks. People can watch sports matches and place bets online from the comfort of their homes. They can also do it with a mobile device. The internet enables gamblers to compare odds and market conditions between sportsbooks. With a minimum deposit, both in online casinos and bookmaker offices, everyone gets a chance to earn some profit.