Nielsen study defines typical U.S. sports punter

The American Gaming Association has published the results of a Nielsen sports study into the typical sports betting demographic in the United States, revealing the following interest points:

* 44 percent of sports punters are under age 35 years, prompting the AGA to predict that the vertical could attract millennials to live sports events and broadcasts;

* Baseball is the favourite with such punters (54 percent) followed by basketball (52 percent), football (50 percent) and hockey (48 percent);

* Taking the sports betting market as a whole and without regard to age, the top sport is US football, which attracts 9 percent of all bettors;

* 29 percent of regular and “avid” punters claim a household income in excess of $100,000 a year, or twice the national average, with hockey the 50 percent favourite;

* Hockey and football gamblers are more likely to hold college degrees than other sports fans, and are more likely to be of Hispanic, Latina or Spanish in origin;

* 38 percent of Neilsen respondents said they would prefer to gamble legally if the opportunity existed and would completely switch to licensed US operators. However, 34 percent said they would split their gambling between current and legal operators, and 29 percent said they would not change their present gambling choices;

* Neilsen said the study indicated that football would see a 60 percent rise in punters in a liberalised environment, followed by baseball (55 percent), basketball (24 percent) and hockey (24 percent).

Sara Slane, a spokesperson for the AGA, said that attracting millennials could be achieved but only if operators embraced policies that offer punters “competitive odds, access to all bets and the ability to tap into modern platforms including mobile.”

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