Since 2018 and the expansion of regulated sports betting across state markets in the US, the way American fans engage with sports has changed in a big way. Around 22% of individuals in the US, some 40 million people across 38 legal states, have participated in sports betting in the past year. The vast majority of those people will have been existing sports fans. 

Even for sports fans who choose not to get involved in wagering, the presence of sports betting is now almost inescapable. Adverts, sports media, celebrities and even athletes themselves talk about or promote odds and betting as part of the game - and now prediction markets are getting in on the game too, with sports contracts that are not legally considered betting at all (although they are very similar). So how has this all changed things for the average fan, and where does it go from here? 

Betting Increases Moment-to-Moment Engagement 

Betting on sports, especially live betting on mobile (which is among the most common forms of betting in today's market) gives bettors a reason to really care about the detail and precision of every play, even in seemingly otherwise done and dusted results. 

A bettor's team might have the win all but locked up with time to spare - but if they still have an over/under or a player prop on the line, they'll be watching intently right to the final whistle or point. Parlay bets, which are heavily promoted by sportsbooks, also mean bettors might watch matchups of other teams that they may have otherwise not been interested in. 

All of this creates reasons for leagues and broadcasters to want to work with betting companies, and integrate them into the sector where they once spent years in the wilderness. 

Today bettors can watch almost any game of any major US sports league, live from a sports betting app - if they've placed a qualifying bet on it of course. 

Sports Media Has Embraced the Betting Business 

Another example of this market shift is sports media and betting review site Covers, where you'll find a regularly refreshed list of Stake.com sports betting and casino offers. The depth of information that bettors want to know about just this one sportsbook and its bonus codes shows just how competitive the sector is, with operators looking to differentiate themselves through payment speeds or game collections, but also marketing. 

While reviewers and expert guides serve serious or experience bettors, sportsbooks like get themselves into the casual public eye through sports media. Specifically, by partnering with broadcast networks, social media personalities or podcast makers and former professional athletes. Not only does this promote brand visibility, but it also helps shift the image of betting into something almost culturally ingrained into sports culture. If you've watched a sports podcast in the past few years, chances are it had a betting sponsor or a betting segment - and probably a section where they discussed odds or bets. 

Social media is also important. Offshore brands like Stake use the innovative but risky strategy of attaching their brand logo to all sorts of social media content as a way to gain brand recognition very quickly - often through sports related videos and posts. 

Fans are Becoming More Skeptical, Despite Tightening Regulation 

Interestingly, despite all that talk of the ubiquity of sports advertising, trade group the American Gaming Association found that sports betting advertising rates on US TV networks were actually down some 10% across the year in 2025. In fact, according to the AGA, sports betting advertising from its major members peaked in 2021 and 2022. 

However, many Americans will still tell you they see too much sports betting advertising. Even the ones who bet on sports themselves. 

As well as sports fans being more sceptical, regulators in various states have also tightened rules on advertising and other operational areas in recent years. Some states, like Ohio, have banned prop bets on college sports. Others have banned certain bonus terminology, like the use of "risk free" in marketing. Others have expanded responsible gambling and problem gambling protection tools.

Yet few regulators or sportsbooks were prepared for what has arguably been the biggest change since New Jersey successfully repealed the sports betting ban in 2018 - prediction markets. 

What's Next? Prediction Markets and Personalization 

Prediction markets have gone from niche political polling tool to massive multi-billion-dollar annual revenue sector in just a few short years. In the case of largest operator Kalshi, that was largely thanks to people putting money down on sports. But it's not betting - depending on who you ask- and for now the federal authority that counts, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, regulates them as financial trading and not gambling. 

So US sports fans across the nation, regulated local market or no, can now put money down on a sports prediction. It just looks more like a financial trade, than a traditional bet. 

Of course, DraftKings and FanDuel, the two leading US sportsbooks, have already gotten in on the model, and prediction markets as a whole soared to $50-plus billion monthly trading volume during the recent soccer World Cup. 

Whether these apps become the next mainstream way of predicting sports results (which looks very possible) is a big question in the future of US sports and fan engagement.