Part
01
of one
Part
01
In which countries is sports betting legal? In which of these countries is it most popular?
INTRODUCTION
Hello! Thanks for your question about the legality and populatity of sports betting worldwide. The short version is that other than in the 15 jurisdictions listed below, sports betting is legal. Japan, China and the United States lead in popularity in terms of total betting operator profits. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
LEGality of SPORTS BETTING
There are 7 countries where online gambling is known to be illegal: "Cyprus, Poland, North Korea, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Brunei, and Cambodia." Gambling is outlawed in several other countries, such as Cayman Islands, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Algeria, Vatican City, and Pakistan. Additionally, only authorized lotteries are legal in Bhutan and only tourists are allowed to gamble in North Korea. While legal in all other jurisdictions, there are varying degress of regulation imposed on sports betting and the gambling industry.
Generally, sports betting is growing in Africa, Asia is often divided in its views, and widely available in South America. In North America, sports betting is widespread in the United States and will likely to be expanded. In Europe, many of the nations are on the top 20 list of sports betting, so it is also quite widespread.
STATISTICS ON SPORTS BETTING
Top Gambling Nations - Australia leads with an average $1,288 average annual losses, followed by Singapore with $1, 174 in average losses. Other countries in the top 10 include Ireland, Canada, Finland, Italy, Hong Kong, Norway, Greece, and Spain, which all have average losses between $418 and $600.
Top Sports Betting Nations - In 2014, there was a study done to rank countries in terms of gross wins, which are essentially profits for betting operators. Japan topped the list with gross wins of nearly €9.4 billion. Rounding out the top 5 sports betting nations are China, United States, UK and Hong Kong which followed closely with €5.8 billion, €4.0 billion, €3.9 billion, and €3.3 billion in gross wins, respectively. Other countries that made the top 20 with gross wins between €0.3 to €3.1 include France, Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Singapore, Germany, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Norway. Just in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, the sports betting market is "projected to be worth nearly $37 billion by 2018." In South America, Argentina is ranks highest in gambling activities and BetVictor was the first sports betting company to receive a license.
Types of Sports Betting - Horse Racing accounts "for about 55 per cent of all betting activity" globally and while Football is in decond place, it is rapidly growing. In a recent study, Kenya was found to have the most "betting youth in Sub-Saharan Africa," with 76% of youth betting an average of the equivalent of US$50 on football bets weekly.
conclusion
To wrap it up, there are only 15 countries where gambling is outright banned or where online gambling including sports betting is explicitly outlawed. Japan, China, and the United States are the most heavily involved in sports betting. Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!