A group of powerful online gambling companies has amassed at least $48 million to influence this election cycle at the state level. The spending could have a significant impact on public health efforts to rein in the state-sanctioned online sports betting industry.
While potentially safer than offshore platforms and prediction markets, existing state regulation of online betting is inadequate. The weak regulation has created a U.S. market where half of online sports bettors report chasing losses and may experience associated harm. The typical person experiencing problem gambling harms six others, according to studies.
Public opinion of the betting industry has significantly weakened in recent years, according to Pew Research Center polling. Numerous states are considering legislation for public health reform.
Buying Betting Influence
DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics, and Bet365 have collectively contributed nearly $50 million to the super PAC Win for America, according to a report from Axios.
The super PAC supports or plans to support a network of state PACs in states such as Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, Alabama, Pennsylvania, and New York. Around 20 in total will see spending.
Texas, Georgia, and Alabama don’t have legal online sports betting. The political spending in the non-betting states appears to be an attempt to build support for future legislative efforts.
In the meantime, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have launched federally regulated prediction-market-style sports betting in states without legal betting. Despite prominent brands, they trail far behind prediction market leader Kalshi.
Illinois and the City of Chicago have implemented significant tax increases on the sector, while Ohio is considering legislation to abolish online sports betting. New York also has various proposals to establish guardrails on the industry, including a new set of proposed regulations.
Colorado is another state looking at major reform, while Michigan could significantly raise operator taxes. New Jersey and Massachusetts have advanced bills to ban slot-machine-like microbetting.
The gambling companies also want to bolster their policy efforts for online casino gambling in 2027.
In sum, the money may be spent to combat tax increases and public health reform. It’s also part of an effort to further expand state-sanctioned online gambling. In 2025, Americans spent a record $27 billion on the activity.
Analysis
As the “responsible gambling” model continues to fall short of protecting users, the industry faces a growing public health movement.
The enormous super PAC spending indicates that advocates for effective gambling harm prevention are winning. However, the battle is a very long way from being decided.
Opposition to online sports betting is bipartisan, but so is support for the harmful industry. Online sportsbook lobbying money will probably go to a mix of Democrats and Republicans. The super PAC spending could make some policymakers on both sides of the aisle reluctant to oppose the industry.
Despite massive U.S. lobbying, the industry has also been defeated recently in Wisconsin and Kentucky.
In the former, local tribal casinos successfully pushed a new law giving them market control over online sports gambling versus the sportsbook app giants. In Kentucky, lawmakers recently sent a gambling bill to the governor that restricts college prop bets and curtails the prediction market business.
The U.S. online gambling landscape is evolving, and elections this year could have major impacts.
Image by kp yamu Jayanath from Pixabay
