Americans show increased concerns about sports betting

Washington, DC, April 2, 2026 – A new Ipsos poll finds that a majority of Americans believe that sports betting lessens the integrity of the game, an increase from this past November. Few believe that sports betting has a positive impact on society or athletes, and more now oppose than support allowing online sports betting in their state.

When it comes to affordability, Americans and sports fans largely view events and tickets as expensive. Both groups also offer critiques of the viewing experience: Majorities believe there are too many platforms needed to watch live sports and there is widespread support for a streaming sports streaming bundle.

The poll also finds that support for college athletes being paid for their name, image, and likeness (NIL) has softened since last September, though more still support than oppose. Lastly, interest for the 2026 World Cup continues to be lukewarm, with about a third of Americans and sports fans planning to watch it.

Detailed Findings:

1. Sports fandom is stable compared to the past three years. Among self-reported sports fans, family ties/growing up a fan of a team are the primary drivers of fandom.

• Sixty-eight percent of Americans say they are fans of at least one sport, in line with 2025 (67%), 2024 (68%) and 2023 (68%). Professional football continues to top the list of sports that Americans say they are fans of, followed by baseball, college football, and men’s basketball.
• In the same vein, 51% of Americans say they played a sport in 2025, a similar percentage to 2024 (52%). Cornhole (20%), bowling (19%), and swimming (17%) are the most-played sports.
• When asked what the main reasons are that they became a fan of their sports or teams, a slim majority of sports fans say family or that they grew up a fan (52%). Other reasons for fandom include local to where they grew up (40%), played the sport as a child (35%), or local to where they currently live (31%).

2. Consistent with the past two years, the NFL is the most popular sport watched by Americans in the past year.

• Fifty-five percent of Americans say they have watched an entire NFL game in the past year; 74% of sports fans also report watching a full NFL game.
• The second tier of sports watched among Americans and sports fans includes college football (watched by 37% of Americans and 53% of sports fans), MLB (36% and 49%), the NBA (29% and 42%), and men’s college basketball (28% and 40%).

3. Concerns about sports betting continue to rise, as few Americans believe it has a positive impact.

• Fifty-six percent of Americans agree that sports betting lessens the integrity of the game. This represents a seven-percentage point increase from November 2025 (49%) and a nineteen-percentage point increase from 2023, when this question was first asked.
• Likewise, Americans are now split on if people should be able to gamble on sports and spend their money how they want (50%) or if sports betting is wrong because it promotes activities that can lead to addiction (47%). This is a noticeable shift from previous years, when roughly three in five Americans held the view that people should be able to gamble how they want.
• For the first time since tracking began in 2023, more Americans oppose (44%) than support (25%) allowing online or app-based sports betting in their state. The same holds true for sports fans (47% oppose vs. 31% support).
• When asked about the impact of sports betting, roughly half of Americans say it has a negative impact on the people placing bets (52%), society (50%), college athletes (47%) and professional athletes (46%). For each, less than one in ten believe sports betting has a positive impact.

4. Americans and sports fans continue to view sporting events and tickets as expensive.

• Seventy-six percent of Americans and 84% of sports fans believe sporting events are too expensive for the average person to attend, in line with last year.
• A similar percentage of both Americans (76%) and sports fans (86%) also agree that sports tickets are more expensive than ever.
• Compared to February 2025, more Americans agree that there are too many separate platforms needed to watch live sports (63% vs. 58%). A greater share of sports fans also hold this sentiment (75% vs. 68% a year ago).
• Support continues to exist among both Americans (50%) and sports fans (61%) for a sports streaming package that bundles multiple streaming platforms for one monthly or annual payment.

5. More Americans continue to support than oppose college athletes being paid for their NIL, though support has softened since last September.

• Nearly half of Americans (48%) support allowing college athletes to be paid money for sports-related business ventures using their name, image and likeness, compared to 26% who oppose. This is a drop in in support from September 2025, when 58% showed support compared to just 16% who opposed it.
• In terms of the current landscape of college athletics, twice as many agree than disagree that it is impossible for “student-athletes” to exist. However, a plurality (43%) stated that they are unsure.
• In the same vein, just 21% of Americans support allowing athletes who have played professionally to return to play in college if they did not use all of their eligibility, while 42% oppose. Sports fans hold similar sentiments on this issue (23% support, 50% oppose).

6. Interest for the 2026 World Cup continues to be lukewarm.

• Twenty-eight percent of Americans are interested in the World Cup, down slightly from last September (34%). Interest also declined among sports fans (37%, down from 43%).
• Similarly, just 31% of Americans plan to watch the 2026 World Cup, down from 37% in September 2025.

About the Study

This poll was conducted March 20-22, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,020 general population adults age 18 or older. The sample includes 695 sports fans.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2025 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• Party ID (Republican, Leans Republican, Independent/Other, Democrat, Leans Democrat)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.06 for all respondents. For sports fans, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, and the design effect was 1.06. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on other sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

This topline is trended with data from previous Ipsos polls:

• The November 2025 poll was fielded November 7-9, 2025 using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,024 general population adults age 18 or older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.04 for all respondents. More information about this poll can be found here.
• The September 2025 poll was fielded September 12-14, 2025 using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,037 general population adults age 18 or older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.09 for all respondents. More information about this poll can be found here.
• The February 2025 poll was fielded February 14-16, 2025 using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,026 general population adults age 18 or older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.09 for all respondents. More information about this poll can be found here.
• The 2024 poll was fielded February 16-18, 2024 using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,039 general population adults age 18 or older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.09 for all respondents. More information about this poll can be found here.
• The 2023 poll was fielded January 13-15, 2023 using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,035 general population adults age 18 or older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.12 for all respondents. More information about this poll can be found here.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Mallory Newall
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

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