Modern Sports Bettor Demographic

Right away when you think of the sports bettor, you may conjure up an image of a couple of guys in their 20’s sitting at a table drinking beer, watching the game and there being a plate of spent buffalo wings on the table pushed away from them. Well, some people say that stereotypes exist for a reason. And in this case it is accurate. Studies show that your sport gambler is 88% male (see women and sports betting) and largely from the 18-34 age range (Humphreys and Perez 2012), but not overwhelmingly so.

Some people picture the old grizzled Ernest Hemingway looking guy chomping on a cigar, yelling at the TV and cheering when a team scores. That isn’t far off of the average bettor either. When you split the data into smaller subsections you get 18-29 year olds and 50+ years olds making up the larger % in subgroups (40% and 34% respectively). I would assume those two age groups make up the “before and after kids” demographic, hence, more expendable income.

That is good new for the sports betting marketer who can use similar creatives for any male sports fans. We all fall into or near those age groups. Side note: This is why I think ESPN is failing, because they are marketing to 16-28 years olds only with rap music and counter-culture references and figures. The older men are a strong force in sports and the sports betting world.

Income & Education

Your average sports bettor makes about $75,000 per year. People who make significantly more and who make significantly less make up a large portion of bettors but your average bet placing person is middle class, and makes roughly 75K. There is a ten % higher chance that a person with a college education will bet on sports vs. someone who didn’t go to college. This corresponds directly with someone who is middle class making $75K.

Political Affiliation

Data shows that there really is no major difference as to which party affiliation your average American sports bettor may have. Recently, it has been show that 52% of Republicans and 57% of Democrats support legalized sports betting. And sports betting fits perfectly into Libertarianism mentality in that “hey, its my money, I can do what I want with it, and nobody can tell me otherwise” philosophy.

Race & Sports Betting

In the United States, 70% of all sports betting is done by people of the Caucasian race despite being only 60% of the population. African-Americans comprise 15% of all sports betting, about even with their population percentage (13.8%). It seems that Hispanics are least likely to bet sports. They make up 18.3% of the population but only do about 6% of the total sports betting. Asians make up 6% of the population and do about 6% of the sports betting.

Updated: 10/11/2020