Three States Likely To Cross $5B Betting Handle In 2022

• Only five states have handled more than $5 billion in total sports wagers so far.
• Colorado is most likely to be the sixth state to have handled a total of more than $5 billion
• Michigan residents bet almost $1 billion in only two months near the end of 2021.

LAS VEGAS – 2021 has been a huge year for the sports betting industry, with literally billions being wagered on sports across the country. However, only five states have handled more than $5 billion in total sports wagers.

States With Sportsbook Handles > $5B

• New Jersey: $20,295,326,482
• Nevada: $18,723,530,831
• Pennsylvania: $10,128,765,090
• Illinois: $7,334,929,102
• Indiana: $5,571,665,625

But there are a few states currently trending to break their $5 billion thresholds in 2022 despite only a handful of states doing so previously.

Colorado

Colorado is currently the closest legal sports betting state to breaking the $5 billion threshold and become the sixth state to do so.

Resting at an overall handle of just over $4 billion, over $1 billion of that handle came from the last three months of the year. Colorado sportsbooks are all but guaranteed to glide past the $5 billion total handle in 2022 – maybe even before Super Bowl LVI.

Michigan + Virginia

Michigan’s regulated sportsbooks have handled $3.5 billion since launch – the majority of which came from this year alone. Within the heart of the NFL season, Michigan sportsbooks nearly handled $1 billion in two months.

• October 2021: $497,565,425
• November 2021: $500,521,376

If this trend continues, it’s likely that Michigan will also break past the $5 billion handle threshold in the spring.

Although Virginia sportsbooks aren’t quite as close to breaking past the mark, they’re still a near lock given their record so far. After launching a regulated sports betting market in January 2021, Virginia sportsbooks handled over $2.5 billion in 2021.

In October, Virginia sportsbooks handled $427.3 million in just one month. With gambling in Virginia expanding at a rapid pace, it may take to just before the 2022 NFL season to hit the mark.

News tags: Colorado | Illinois | Indiana | Michigan | Nevada | New Jersey | Pennsylvania | Virginia