Online Sports Betting History

In those early years, people would gamble on the outcomes of improvised horse races, fist-fights and cockfights. It didn't take long, however, before individuals were wagering on gradually more and more sports matches.

Horse racing enjoyed its height of popularity during both the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Though the activity was enjoyed by mainly the upper class, following the Civil War racetracks began cropping up all over the eastern US with more gambling enthusiasts getting in on the action than ever before. From that point on, betting on horses at the racetracks was open to everyone, regardless of economic standing.

Pre-Web Online Sports Betting
By the nineteen twenties, the American horse racing business had hit an all-time high with more than 300 race-tracks operating and taking bets. Thousands of off-track betting shops, as well as pool halls, were connected to the tracks via telegraph wires. No matter where they lived in the country, wannabe sports bettors no longer had to physically be at the track to enter their bets. Now they could bet on horses from any of the ubiquitous sportsbooks set up across the entire nation. Prior to the establishment of pro sports leagues, such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL - which ultimately lured tons of gamblers away from the tracks - betting on horses ranked as the most popular type of sports betting.

Towards the end of the 19th Century, professional baseball games commenced increasing in popularity and along with it, gambling on the outcomes of the games. Baseball 'pool cards' were everywhere in eastern cities and, much like the parlay cards of today, offered clients a broad choice of baseball betting alternatives, including placing as little as ten-cent wagers.

Before 1958, the horse racing gambling sector was restricted to what were commonly known as small "turf clubs." Del Mar and Churchill Downs were typical examples. Up until then, none of the leading Vegas casinos offered sports betting services of any kind. That is, until alleged Chicago mobster, Sam (Momo) Giancana, got into the action by assisting with the development of the Stardust. With televised sports proliferating throughout the 60s and 70s, sports betting took on a brand new meaning, along with hordes of new and enthusiastic sports betting devotees.

In 1974 the US government eliminated a 10% tax which was being levied on sporting bets, significantly altering the course of sports betting history. As a direct result, the leading casinos immediately commenced opening up sports books as a way to both boost their overall revenues, as well as prevent their customers from exiting the casino to place a sports bet(s) some place else.

In 1976, bookie Frank ‘Lefty' Rosenthal created what became a business model for future sports books. Rosenthal's lush Stardust operation boasted seating for 300 bettors and six gigantic TV screens. Today, the majority of Sin City's larger casinos feature sports betting services.

Online Sports Betting: We're Just Getting Started
With the dawn of the Internet age, it was a sure bet that sports betting would also reach unprecedented heights, as have online casino websites in general and basically every other industry known to mankind. Today, gambling on sporting matches is more fashionable than ever, both online and offline. Nevada reported generating practically $2 billion in bets last year emanating from over 150 of the state's sportsbooks.

According to a report by ESPN (Entertainment & Sports Programming Network), the online sports betting biz earned an estimated US$63 billion in 2003. The report also estimates that some 25 per cent of American citizens gamble on sporting events at least once annually. Fifteen percent of Americans bet on sports regularly.