First Advisor

Sung, Yoon Tae

First Committee Member

Morse, Alan

Second Committee Member

Tsai, Chia-Lin

Third Committee Member

Iyer, Vishwanathan

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

12-2025

Department

College of Natural and Health Sciences, Kinesiology Nutrition and Dietetics, KiND Student Work

Abstract

Following the end of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, legalized sports betting has become prevalent in the United States (U.S.). Most states legalized the activities due to consumer interest and financial potential for tax revenue generation. The purpose of this study was to explore how legalized sports betting influenced tax revenues in the initial years of expanded adoption in the U.S. To address this purpose, the research questions were structured to uncover if states collectively benefited from the introduction of legalized sports betting, what states have financially benefitted from the implementation of legalized sports betting, and if the timing of sports betting legalization influenced state selective tax revenue performance. Through the theoretical framework of narrative economics (Shiller, 2019), the early returns of the legalized sports betting were examined through multiple linear regression and difference-in-differences analysis. Selective tax revenue was the variable of interest with years and launch dates observed with both the implementation of legalized sports betting and pari-mutuel wagering between the years of 2014-2022 for 50 states. For the regressions, 30 states that legalized during this time frame were explored. Four states of these 30 legalized states were found to have significantly positive relationships with the implementation of legalized sports betting. Moreover, these states offered multiple sports books and online modalities. In the first difference-in-difference analysis, all 50 states were utilized with non-legalized states serving as controls. The second difference-in-differences analysis scrutinized 23 states that had both legalized sports betting and pari-mutuel wagering. In both difference-in-differences analyses, the results suggested that legalized sports betting and pari-mutuels had little to no significant influence on state tax revenue performance. Pari-mutuel wagering tax revenues largely experienced negative impacts among states that also instilled legalized sports gambling. This study provides narrative and financial insights into the expansion of sports betting, initial years of legalized sports betting, and considerations moving forward in the U.S.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Extent

123 pages

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

Digital Origin

Born digital

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