States Spend Money From Sports Betting in Strange Places

Legalized sports gambling lets state governments tax what used to be an illicit and off-the-books activity. But where does the money go, exactly? In some instances, not far: Arkansas allocates 17.5% of its taxed revenue to horse breeding awards and racing purses. And of the $2.7 billion the US states collected in the previous four quarters, less than 2% went directly to those arguably most in need: problem gamblers and the programs built to support them.

Source: US Census Bureau

Sources: US Census, American Gaming Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, state documents, news reports, Bloomberg reporting.Note: Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina and West Virginia spending breakdowns exclude the share of spending on administrative or regulatory expenditures. In New Jersey and Michigan, sports gambling tax allocations vary according to how or where bets were made, so spending categories were estimated based on recent tax revenue numbers

1. 27.5% for the city and county in Arkansas where the casino is located

2. All revenue in Colorado after administrative costs, loss offsets and problem-gambling initiatives goes to water planning

3. Approximately 10% to increase the size of Delaware’s horse race purses

4. 96% for water quality projects in Florida

5. 42% to a capital projects fund in Illinois, whose undertakings include $515k for the construction of a baseball field in Chicago and $260k for a radio communications tower in Oak Forest

6. About 73% toward the YRC Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund

7. 98% for state pensions in Kentucky

8. 2.5% to the Louisiana Equine Promotion and Research Program, which touts equine tourism and funds research on equine health and physiology

9. 4% for Maine’s Agricultural Fair Promotion fund

10. 100% for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a fund whose programs include increasing starting salaries for teachers and expanding pre-K programs

11. 17.5% to work training for at-risk youth, job skill training, adult literacy and English language learner programs in Massachusetts

12. $2m toward Michigan firefighters undergoing cancer treatments

13. 100% toward the Mississippi highway fund until 2028

14. 70% for property tax relief in Nebraska

15. 100% to New Hampshire’s K-12 public education

16. 100% of retail sports betting funds support seniors and people with disabilities in New Jersey; all revenue from online sports betting goes to the general fund

17. $5m for New York’s youth sports activities, including therapeutic horseback riding and self-defense

18. In North Carolina, $1m was allocated in $5k grants to cover travel costs to matches for youth sports teams

19. 98% to funding Ohio’s interscholastic athletics and extracurricular youth activities

20. 7.5% to maintain and restore watersheds in Oregon, for humans and wildlife such as salmon

21. 40% to tourism promotion in South Dakota, including Deadwood Mardi Gras, Chinook Days and the Pumpkin Fest

22. 80% funds Tennessee’s HOPE scholarships, which pay for college

23. $350k in Vermont to counter problem gambling, including $100k for bettors to voluntarily remove themselves from apps

24. In five states including Washington, betting is legal through tribal casino operators, and revenue-collection and reporting rules vary

25. The first $200k collected in Washington, DC, goes to services for problem gamblers

26. The first $15m to West Virginia’s lottery fund; all remaining money to state pensions

Read More: The New Age of Sports Betting

To contact the authors of this story:
Dorothy Gambrell in New York at dgambrell1@bloomberg.net

Brandon Mioduszewski in New York at bmioduszewsk@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reyhan Harmanci at rharmanci@bloomberg.net

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