Baseball used to be the U.S. national pastime. Now, it may be gambling on football.
More than $20 billion will likely be legally bet on college football and National Football League games this season, nearly triple the $7.5 billion of last season, according to PlayUSA, a gambling information service, MarketWatch reports.
That’s good for sports-gambling-related companies, such as DraftKings (DKNG Get DraftKings Inc. (DKNG) Report, Penn National Gaming (PENN Get Penn National Gaming, Inc. Report and Flutter Entertainment PDYPF, owner of FanDuel.
The spreading legalization of sports gambling is fueling the trend, PlayUSA analyst Dustin Gouker told the news service. More than 20 states and Washington enable sports betting.
“Propelled by the launch earlier this year of legal sports betting in relatively large states like Michigan and Virginia, in addition to states such as Arizona that are expected to launch near the beginning of the NFL season, the U.S. market has grown significantly since the beginning of the 2020 football season,” Gouker said.
“The U.S. sports betting market looks entirely different than it did just one year ago. There is no question that it will be a historic football season unlike any we’ve seen before.”
DraftKings recently traded at $64.55, up 1%, and has gained 17% over the past three months amid optimism about the outlook for sports gambling.
Penn National recently traded at $84.89, up 1%, and has surged 18% in the past month.
And Flutter was at $102, up 0.5%. The stock is off from a 52-week high $241.52 set in late March.
Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts (WYNN Get Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN) Report reportedly plans to spend more than $100 million marketing its new sports betting app. The company's shares recently traded at $105.27, up 1%.
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