Acceptance of Gambling Reaches New Heights

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixty-nine percent of Americans say gambling is morally acceptable, a four-percentage-point increase from last year and the highest level of acceptance in the 16 years Gallup has asked the question.

The Supreme Court struck down a federal law banning sports betting on May 14, only a few days after the May 1-10 poll was completed. The law was challenged by the state of New Jersey, which has been battling for years to legalize sports betting at its casinos and racetracks. More than 20 states are now considering legalizing some form of sports betting.

Previously, the highest percentage of Americans saying gambling is morally acceptable was 67%, in both 2015 and 2016. The lowest level of acceptance on the question -- one of a battery of questions about social issues included in Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs Social Series since 2003 -- was 58% in 2009.

Americans' increasing willingness to see gambling as an acceptable behavior fits into a larger pattern of Americans becoming more liberal on social issues. Both on specific social issues, such as same-sex marriage and pornography, and on general attitudes about social issues, the nation has gradually moved leftward in recent years.

Acceptance of Gambling More Broad-Based Now, but Not New

The growth in the percentage of Americans saying gambling is acceptable has been nowhere near as large as for some other prominent social issues on which attitudes have changed by 20 points or more. Gay and lesbian relations, legalization of marijuana and babies being born outside of marriage all were morally unacceptable to half or more of Americans at some point since 2000 but now have solid majority support. On the issue of gambling, majorities have said it was acceptable every time the current version of the question was asked since 2003 and in earlier versions of the question asked in 1992 and 1993.

Americans have not always been so supportive on gambling issues, however. In the earliest years of The Gallup Poll, Americans were split when asked in 1938 if "government lotteries would produce an unwholesome gambling spirit in this country." Fifty-one percent thought it would, and 49% thought it would not. During the 1940s, support for the concept of using lotteries to fund government services ranged between 45% and 54%.

Views on Gambling Differ by Religiosity, Education, Income

Combining polling results from the past three years makes it possible to look at how Americans differ on the moral acceptability of gambling by religion, race, ethnicity, education, income and other key subgroupings. Results from the three polls show that Americans differ most strongly by religiosity, with only 48% of those who attend religious services at least weekly saying gambling is acceptable, compared with 63% of those attending nearly weekly or monthly, and 78% who attend seldom or not at all. Many of the nation's largest religious denominations have historically been strongly opposed to gambling.

	Morally acceptable	Morally wrong
	%	%
Religious attendance
At least weekly	48	47
Nearly weekly/monthly	63	30
Seldom/Never	78	18
Annual household income
Less than $20,000	54	43
$20,000-$29,999	60	35
$30,000-$49,999	62	32
$50,000-$74,999	72	25
$75,000 and above	76	20
Education
No college	60	35
Some college	68	28
College degree, no postgrad	74	23
Postgraduate work/degree	76	17
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white	70	26
Non-Hispanic black	62	34
Hispanic	57	35
Region
East	68	29
Midwest	73	23
South	60	33
West	71	25
Aggregated results from Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs polls in 2016, 2017 and 2018
GALLUP

Income and education differences also are related to views on gambling. The higher the income status and the higher the educational level, the more likely Americans are to find gambling morally acceptable.

A previous study of how different religious groups answered the question from 2001-2016 found that Mormons were, by a large margin, least likely to find gambling acceptable. Eight in 10 of those with no religious preference and of Jews, and three-quarters of Catholics, believed gambling is OK morally. Among Protestants, who make up the largest religious group in the U.S., a slight majority said it is acceptable.

Bottom Line

Fifty years ago, only one state -- Nevada -- had casinos. Only two -- New Hampshire and New York -- had lotteries. Now, all but a handful of states have both, and with the addition of online gambling, the industry's overall net worth has been valued at $240 billion. And gambling appears poised for another growth spurt, with many states looking to formally allow betting on sporting events.

While previous generations of Americans may have never been exposed to legal betting unless they traveled to Las Vegas, today most adults can place a legal bet by as simple and mundane an act as buying a $1 lottery ticket at the neighborhood convenience store. As more and more ways to gamble have become readily available, Americans -- never overwhelmingly opposed to the concept of legal gambling -- have gradually solidified their support for the practice, though a sizable minority still sees it as wrong.