By Alexis Ashby | Jan. 24, 2023

“Americans have been betting as long as there have been sports to bet on,” said Casey Clark, the vice president of the American Gaming Association based in Washington.

However, online sports betting is a more recent development. Illegal sportsbooks rose in popularity as the internet grew, and the vast accessibility of mobile devices has allowed people to bet in any location at all hours of the day.

When the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in 2018, it increased both legal and illegal betting across the country. With PASPA no longer the law, opportunities opened for sportsbooks advertising in markets where it was previously forbidden.

Because sports betting has become normalized in most states, it’s increasingly harder to keep students at colleges and universities in Florida, where the practice is illegal, from taking part.