{"id":11181,"date":"2026-08-19T22:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/19\/gallup-survey-finds-us-gambling-participation-down-sharply-since-2016\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T22:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T22:54:24","slug":"gallup-survey-finds-us-gambling-participation-down-sharply-since-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/19\/gallup-survey-finds-us-gambling-participation-down-sharply-since-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Gallup Survey Finds US Gambling Participation Down Sharply Since 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Fewer Americans now report gambling than a decade ago, even as regulated gaming revenue continues to reach record levels. A new <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/713405\/fewer-adults-say-gamble.aspx\">Gallup survey<\/a> found that 45% of US adults gambled during the past year, down from 64% in 2016.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>45% of US adults reported gambling<\/strong>, down 19 percentage points from 2016.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Lottery participation fell from 49% to <strong>31%<\/strong>, while land based casino gambling dropped from 26% to <strong>14%<\/strong>.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>A separate Gallup online survey produced a much higher gambling rate of <strong>53%<\/strong>, suggesting people may disclose gambling more freely online.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong>Fewer Players But More Gaming Revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Gallup data presents an unusual split for the US gambling market. Participation has fallen across most forms of gambling, but commercial gaming revenue reached a record $78.7 billion in 2025. Sports betting revenue alone climbed 22.8% to $16.96 billion, while regulated iGaming revenue reached $10.74 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Gallup said a smaller group of players could simply be gambling more often or spending more. Better tracking of activity through regulated operators could also help explain why industry revenue keeps rising while reported participation falls.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Americans are significantly less likely than they were 10 years ago to say they participate in a variety of gambling activities. <\/p>\n<p>The sharpest drops are in the three most common activities: buying a state lottery ticket, gambling in person at a casino and participating in an\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H6B5TESrEu\">pic.twitter.com\/H6B5TESrEu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gallup (@Gallup) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Gallup\/status\/2090086878875660747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Traditional gambling recorded the largest declines. Only 31% of adults said they bought a state lottery ticket during the past year. Land based casino participation has fallen to 14%, compared with a peak of 30% in 2003.<\/p>\n<p>Online gambling went in the other direction. Four percent said they had gambled for money online, up from 1% in 2003 and the only long tracked category that did not decline.<\/p>\n<p>Sports betting participation also remains lower than some expectations following widespread legalization. Seven percent reported betting on professional sports, while 4% bet on college sports. Gallup said professional sports betting remains at the same level recorded in 2007 and well below the 14% measured in 1989.<\/p>\n<p>Public attitudes have cooled as well. Gallup found 57% of Americans consider gambling morally acceptable, down from 67% in 2016 and the lowest level in its recent measurements.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Survey Method Changes the Numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Gallup based its main findings on June and July 2026 telephone interviews with more than 2,200 adults. However, an online Gallup Panel survey using the same questions found that 53% had gambled, eight percentage points above the phone result.<\/p>\n<p>Sports betting showed an even wider difference. The online survey found 21% had participated in some form of sports gambling, compared with 15% by phone. Gallup said respondents may feel less comfortable admitting gambling activity directly to an interviewer.<\/p>\n<p>Income, gender and age also affected participation. Gambling rates reached 54% among households earning at least $100,000, compared with 40% among households below $50,000. Men reported a 49% rate against 40% for women, while adults aged 50 or older reached 50%.<\/p>\n<p>Problem gambling indicators remained relatively low in the telephone survey. Three percent of adults said they sometimes gambled more than they believed they should. However, 9% said gambling had caused problems within their family, rising to 13% among lower income respondents.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2>FAQ<\/h2>\n<h3>What percentage of Americans gamble?<\/h3>\n<p>Gallup found that 45% of US adults reported gambling during the previous year, compared with 64% in 2016. Its separate online survey produced a 53% rate.<\/p>\n<h3>Is online gambling becoming more common in the US?<\/h3>\n<p>Gallup found 4% of adults gamble online for money, compared with 1% in 2003. It was the only long tracked gambling category that did not decline.<\/p>\n<h3>Why is US gaming revenue rising if fewer people gamble?<\/h3>\n<p>Gallup said fewer gamblers may be spending more or gambling more frequently. Meanwhile, regulated US commercial gaming revenue reached a record $78.7 billion in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/gallup-survey-finds-us-gambling-participation-down-sharply-since-2016\/\">Gallup Survey Finds US Gambling Participation Down Sharply Since 2016<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fewer Americans now report gambling than a decade ago, even as regulated gaming revenue continues to reach record levels. A new Gallup survey found that 45% of US adults gambled during the past year, down from 64% in 2016. Good to Know 45% of US adults reported gambling, down 19 percentage points from 2016. Lottery [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}