I guess the question is why wasn’t it big before 1992?
If you went back a full generation you would notice a very different attitude in society toward gambling. It used to really be frowned upon.
A sports bookie is a totally different character than the draftkings app
I don't think there were many sports betting apps on people's smartphones in 1990.
It also used to be heavily regulated in the Netherlands... but apparently due to harmonising rules in the eu, now almost everything is legalised on betting. I really dislike this and would prefer all (or at least most) betting to be made illegal again. At the very least it will abolish a lot of betting-advertising on media and in the streets and public spaces.
The internet happened. Like effective age restrictions, real gambling bans or regulations will require fairly rigorous (and privacy invasive) ID verification.
America has deeply endorsed the philosophy that it's more profitable to monetize despair than to fix it.
I can only speak for Colorado, we put an initiative on the ballot a few years ago to allow sports betting and it passed in a landslide. I think the state wanted the tax money (who wouldn’t?)
> (who wouldn’t?)
Folks who don't want to fund their state from the loss and despair of other people, for one.
Gambling used to be highly regulated by the government so it was run underground by organized crime. Now things are simpler: the same people are running things but without the hassle.
The lobbyists and the people funding the lobbyists won.
Gambling is still regulated. But it is generally much more accessible and visible than it used to be (probably sports betting in particular).