Fewer Americans Say They Gamble as Casino Participation Drops to 14%

WASHINGTON – The share of U.S. adults who say they gambled in the past year has fallen to 45%, from 64% a decade ago, according to Gallup.

The decline extends across major demographic groups and several established gambling products, including casinos and lotteries. It also suggests gambling industry revenue growth is not necessarily being driven by a larger share of Americans participating.

The results come from June and July telephone surveys involving more than 2,200 U.S. adults. Gallup’s findings show reported participation falling across most of the 13 gambling activities included in its long-running polling.

Casino Gambling Falls to 14%

Only 14% of adults said they had gambled in person at a casino during the previous year. Casino participation stood at 20% when Gallup first measured it in 1989, peaked at 30% in 2003 and remained at roughly one-quarter of adults in subsequent surveys before the latest decline.

Lottery participation has also dropped sharply. Thirty-one percent of respondents said they bought a state lottery ticket during the past year, compared with figures in the high-40% range between 2003 and 2016 and majority participation during much of the 1990s.

Office pools fell to 7%, compared with 15% in the early 2000s, while video poker declined to 5% from a high of 20% in 1999. Online gambling was an exception: 4% said they gambled for money on the internet, making it the only activity measured that has not declined over time. Betting on professional and college sports has also remained relatively stable since 2003.

Web Survey Produces Higher Gambling Rates

Gallup cautioned that the method used to question respondents affects the results. A parallel online survey conducted through the Gallup Panel found that 53% of U.S. adults had gambled during the previous year, eight percentage points above the telephone result.

The gap was also visible in sports betting. Gallup calculated that 21% of respondents in its web survey participated in some form of sports gambling, compared with 15% in the telephone survey. Researchers said respondents speaking to an interviewer may be less willing to disclose gambling activity than people completing a survey privately online.

Even the higher web-based estimates remain below earlier telephone findings, however, supporting Gallup’s conclusion that participation has likely declined. The findings also follow earlier research into U.S. attitudes toward gambling, which has shown changing views despite the expansion of legal betting options.

Income and Age Divide Gambling Participation

Gallup found participation was higher among adults with household incomes of at least $100,000, at 54%, compared with 45% among middle-income respondents and 40% among those earning less than $50,000. Men were also more likely to report gambling than women, 49% to 40%.

Adults aged 50 and older reported a 50% participation rate, compared with 41% among those under 50. Younger women aged 18 to 49 recorded the lowest rate among the age and gender groups measured, at 35%.

Meanwhile, 3% of all adults and 7% of gamblers interviewed by telephone said they sometimes gamble more than they think they should. Nine percent of adults said gambling had caused problems in their family, leaving Gallup with a mixed picture: fewer Americans report gambling, but the proportion reporting excessive play has changed little over time.

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