High Stakes Research: Exploring the online sports betting industry in library resources

Since 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down a federal law that banned commercial sports betting in most states, online sports betting has been the leading segment by revenue in the online gambling industry. More specifically, online and mobile betting accounted for 94% of total sports betting revenues in 2023. As this space continues to grow, and with this year’s Big Game just around the corner, read on to discover how to research this industry using resources available through Lippincott Library.

A good place to get started is Statista, which provides access to statistical information on a variety of subjects sourced from a range of providers. A basic search for sports betting retrieves collections of related statistics, such as “Sports Betting Worldwide – Statistics & Facts,” which provides consumer insights on topics like total number of online sports bettors, average monthly spend on sports betting per person, favorite sports to place wagers on, and more. As the title of that report indicates, Statista’s coverage is international, so be sure to use the filtering options on the search results page to refine by Location if you’re interested in a specific geography.

     
 In addition to keyword searching, you can also take advantage of some of Statista’s more dynamic tools. For example, by navigating to Insights > Explore Market Insights, you can search for a topic of interest (e.g., online sports betting) to discover interactive datagraphics related to different aspects of the market, analyst opinions, and more.

Another option for discovering coverage of the online sports betting industry is eMarketer. This resource provides a combination of qualitative, expert analysis and data from leading sources on digital industries and markets. To get started, try using the options in the navigation bar to navigate to More Industries > Sports. This dashboard collects all the materials in the database related to sports, which includes reports, charts, articles, podcasts, and more. An example of something you might discover here is eMarketer’s US Sports Betting 2023 report, which includes relevant data, state-level analysis, and threats to the industry, among other helpful analysis.

In addition to resources like Statista and eMarketer, which cover a broad spectrum of topics, Lippincott also provides access to specialized resources with an emphasis on specific areas. For example, Sportico provides coverage of the business of sports from several different angles in the form of analysis, opinion pieces, interactive data visualizations, and more. To get started, select the hamburger menu icon on the far-left side of the navigation bar, then look for Sports Betting in the Business column. This retrieves a dashboard of related materials from which you can launch into Sportico’s varied coverage of sports betting, including topics like international expansion, in-app innovations, and current events related to the industry, to cite a few examples.

Similarly, Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal (SBJ) is another specialized option for discovering sports-specific content. Look for the All Topics drop-down menu in the navigation bar, then select Betting to retrieve their dashboard of related articles.

These options for researching the online sports betting industry are good for getting started, but there is more that can be discovered on this topic and many others using library resources. Be sure to contact a Lippincott Librarian for assistance with any of your research needs. Odds are we’ll have something for you.