States Weigh Bets on Mobile Sports Gambling

Betting on smartphones could increase total U.S. sports gambling revenue by an estimated $9 billion, but some worry about impact on casinos

As U.S. states move to legalize sports betting, the Journal takes a look at the world's largest market for the industry—the U.K.—to see how real-time gambling works during a World Cup soccer match.
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Now that states are free to craft laws legalizing sports gambling, the latest question is whether to enter the potential $9 billion mobile-betting market.

Americans legally gambling on this weekend’s World Cup final and other athletic competitions primarily are doing so in person at a limited number of casinos. Increasingly, though, gamblers in other countries are placing wagers from their smartphones.

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