Survey: Half of Sports Bettors Have Wagered to Cover Bills | Banking Advice

Sports bettors are entering the busy season as football kicks off, with Americans expected to have legally wagered $29.5 billion on the NFL alone by the time the Super Bowl winners lift the Lombardi Trophy in February.

Sports betting is now legal in 39 states plus Washington, D.C., and sportsbooks have seen rapid growth over the eight years since a court ruling opened the doors to widespread legal wagering. Americans bet nearly $167 billion on sports in 2025, marking an 11% increase from the previous year, according to the American Gaming Association.

While some sports bettors see the activity as merely a form of entertainment, others are placing bets in hopes to not only cover the spread, but to cover their rent as well, a U.S. News survey found. And some are borrowing money to make those bets in the first place.

Between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3, U.S. News surveyed 1,200 Americans who placed a sports bet within the last year. We asked respondents nationwide about their betting habits and how their wagering impacts various aspects of their financial and personal lives. Here’s what we found:

The majority of sports bettors surveyed indicate that they place bets somewhat regularly but often wager relatively small amounts per bet. Roughly 57% say they bet on a weekly basis, and half of all respondents estimate their typical bet is less than $25. This trend mirrors responses from the 2025 U.S. News sports betting survey, which found nearly the same percentage of weekly bettors and similar small individual bets.

Higher incomes tend to coincide with more aggressive betting. More than two-thirds of respondents with six-figure household incomes (68%) say they wager weekly, and 61% spend $25 or more on each bet.

About 36% of all bettors we polled say they’re betting more this year than in previous years, while 32% report that they’ve stopped betting as much.

While some bet largely for entertainment, more than half of the sports bettors we surveyed say they’ve placed bets for the purpose of trying to win money to pay their bills.

One notable change from last year’s survey is that fewer than one in five respondents (19%) say they have debts tied to betting. In 2025, nearly one in three (30%) reported betting-related debts. The majority of those who have debts from betting say they owe less than $1,000.

Frequent bettors are significantly more likely to report that their betting habits are impacting other corners of their financial lives. Of those who bet daily on sports, 40% say they have debts that they attribute to wagers they made.

Nearly half of all respondents (45%) say they’ve borrowed money to place sports bets, with 13% taking out a personal loan to bankroll their betting and 11% securing funds through a high-interest payday loan.

Can anything slow the rapid growth of sports betting in the U.S.? Well, maybe.

The American Gaming Association predicts NFL betting volume this fall will be flat year over year. Part of that is likely due to a slowdown in new states allowing sportsbooks. But the gaming trade group also points to another factor: the explosion in prediction markets.

Prediction markets are speculative trading markets where people trade contracts forecasting the outcomes of future events. Those events could range from election results to football standings to Oscar winners. And these markets have skyrocketed in popularity. A recent Pew Research analysis found that monthly betting volume grew from less than $5 billion last September to roughly $24 billion by April 2026.

U.S. News found that more than two in five (41%) sports bettors surveyed say they also participate in prediction markets, and 55% don’t see trading in these markets as any different from betting.

While sports is by far (and unsurprisingly) the most popular prediction market category for sports bettors, those surveyed say they dabble in other topics as well. Of those who trade in these markets, 45% say they predict current events, while 36% try to accurately forecast outcomes in entertainment or “culture” categories.

Sports betting takes a financial and personal toll on some bettors in our survey, including many of the 22% who say they worry they can’t control their gambling.

“I have lost money that was going to be used for my kids’ Christmas presents,” recalls one respondent. “It led to stress with my wife after having to borrow from her parents to make up that money.”

Others lamented severed relationships.

“Sports betting ruined my six years of friendship because I couldn’t pay back the borrowed loan from my friend,” says one bettor. “He stopped talking to me, and it all ended.”

However, more respondents say betting has actually improved their finances and relationships. Only 14% of bettors surveyed say wagering has had a negative impact on their personal relationships, while just 17% say betting has adversely affected their finances.

Many respondents noted that they see sports betting as a bonding experience with friends or loved ones, as long as they bet responsibly.

“We bet together on games and watch them together,” says one bettor. “So we bond over this, and if we lose, we take a break for a few days.”