If you’ve wondered whether you can make money sports betting over a full season, most people can’t, and the reason has almost nothing to do with how well you read a matchup.
Plenty of careful people bet on sports and enjoy it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s a difference between an entertainment cost you’ve planned for and a strategy you expect to earn from.
Here’s what the sportsbook keeps, whether anyone actually wins long term, why the commonly quoted 4.5% figure understates the real cost, and what the same money has historically done invested instead.
What the sportsbook keeps from every dollar you bet
If you bet $100 and win, it pays about $91. If you lose, it’ll cost you the full $100. The $9 is the sportsbook’s hold. A hold is the share of all money wagered that sportsbooks keep after paying the winners.
Across the U.S., hold ran about 10.2% in 2025, according to the American Gaming Association. It isn’t a charge that shows up on your statement, but built into the odds on every bet you place.
Taking that same example, most bets are priced at -110, where you risk $110 to win $100. With those odds, you need to win 52.38% of your bets to break even.
Other industry terms include handle, which is the total amount wagered, and gross gaming revenue, what sportsbooks keep after paying winners. In 2025, U.S. state-regulated sportsbooks took roughly $167 billion in handle and kept about $17 billion of it. That $17 billion is the gap between what bettors put in and what they took home.
Does anyone actually make money sports betting long term?
A small minority can over a long stretch. Short term wins are more common.
In a study of more than 700,000 online gamblers, researchers at the University of California San Diego found that about 96% lost money over the period. Even self-reported numbers, which tend to run optimistic, land in similar territory.
The reason is expected value, which is the average result you’d get if you repeated the same bet many times. Once hold is priced into the odds, each individual wager carries a slightly negative expected value. One bet is close to a coin flip. More volume doesn’t give you more chances to get lucky, it gives the edge for more chances to show up.
Is sports betting worth it?
Sports betting is worth it as entertainment you’ve budgeted for. It isn’t worth it as an income or long-term strategy.
According to NerdWallet’s 2025 survey, sports bettors reported spending $3,284 on average over 12 months. This covers gambling in general rather than sports betting alone. The median was much lower, at $750. The same survey found that 31% of sports bettors view gambling as an investment, and about 1 in 7 (14%) have gone into debt to gamble.
What that same money looks like invested
Let’s take the $3,284 average and invest it instead. If you divide that by 12, that’s about a $274 investment each month. Assuming a hypothetical 8% annual return, your money could grow to a little over $3,400 by the end of that year. If you continued investing $274/month, your money could grow to a little over $49,000 after 10 years. $32,880 is money you contributed and the other $16,120 is growth.
While past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, the market has typically ended in an uptrend. By keeping your money invested, your money can tap into the power of compounding, where your money starts earning returns, and those returns earn their own returns. That’s how your extra $16,120 came about.
Where fun money fits
Betting can stay in your life the same way a concert ticket does, as long as it’s not seen as your main way to build wealth over time.
When 90% of your income is a long-term, diversified portfolio, you have a solid base for building long-term growth potential. The other 10% can be fun money, where you can take part in sports betting.
Ready to start your investing journey? Start investing your spare change with Acorns Invest and get an expert-built portfolio that can support your long-term money goals.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of sports bettors make money long term?
Only a small percentage. A University of California San Diego study of more than 700,000 online gamblers found about 96% lost money over the period analyzed.
How much do sports bettors spend in a year?
Sports bettors reported spending $3,284 on average on gambling over 12 months, with a median of $750, according to NerdWallet’s 2025 Sports Betting and Gambling Survey. This figure covers gambling in general rather than sports betting alone, and the wide gap between the average and the median means a smaller group of heavy spenders pulls the average well above what a typical bettor spends.
What win rate do you need to break even on sports betting?
At standard -110 odds, you need to win 52.38% of your bets just to break even. Winning half of them is a losing season, because a winning $100 bet pays about $91 while a losing one costs the full $100.
Is sports betting worth it if I only bet small amounts?
Small stakes lower the cost but doesn’t change the stakes. Because the sportsbook’s edge is a percentage of what you wager, betting $20 a week instead of $200 shrinks your expected loss rather than removing it.
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Sports betting revenue rose to $16.96 billion in 2025 on a total handle of $166.94 billion, with the national hold rate rising to 10.2%, according to American Gaming Association and its 2026 State of the Industry review.
In a study of more than 700,000 online gamblers, approximately 96% lost money over the period analyzed, according to the University of California San Diego.
31% of sports bettors view gambling as an investment, 14% have gone into debt to gamble, and 40% reported net gains over 12 months, sports bettors reported spending $3,284 on average on gambling over a 12-month period, with a median of $750, per the NerdWallet 2025 Sports Betting and Gambling Survey.
