A new analysis from online betting firm Doc’s Sports shows that Florida could generate $369.4 million in tax revenue each year if it legalized and taxed sports betting at the national per-capita average.
“Even though people in Florida can already place bets through sports betting apps, the state isn’t collecting a cent in taxes, and the missed opportunity is huge,” said Doc’ Sports.
This makes Florida the 3rd highest state for untapped tax revenue among the 12 holdouts.
The report three cities alone could contribute a large share of that:
Jacksonville: $16.6M annually
Miami: $8.1M annually
Tampa: $7M annually
For comparison, New York collected over $1 billion in 2024 from sports betting taxes, money invested into education and infrastructure.
For years’ analyst have said the state could generate millions from legalized sports betting.
States with legal sports betting generated nearly $3 billion in tax revenue in 2024, with top performers leading the way in both collection and public allocation.
Potential Tax Revenue
Twelve U.S. states currently prohibit legal sports betting. Using a national per capita average of $17.15 in potential sports betting tax revenue, these states could collectively generate over $2.19 billion annually if they legalized sports betting.
The largest cities in each non-legal state alone could contribute more than $326 million annually in tax revenue.
The U.S. sports betting industry has experienced unprecedented growth since 2018. In just seven years, the total legal sports betting handle skyrocketed from $6.6 billion in 2018 to nearly $149 billion in 2024.
This explosive activity has generated an estimated $2.83 billion in state tax revenues in 2024 alone, compared to 40 million in 2018. As shown in our projection, that amount would go over $5 billion in 2025 if all states legalized sports betting.
