US Online Gambling Satisfaction Drops Despite Product Gains

US players are less satisfied with online gambling services than a year ago. ACSI put the sector at 74 points in 2026, down 3%, despite improvements in several product areas.

The finding comes from the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s latest Entertainment Study. ACSI collected 30,886 completed surveys across five entertainment categories between July 2025 and June 2026. Online gambling was one of the sectors covered, with respondents rating their experience on a 100-point scale.

The decline comes during a year when the biggest betting brands moved closer together in the rankings.

DraftKings Loses Last Year’s Lead

DraftKings had the largest year-on-year decline among the operators listed by ACSI. Its score moved from 78 to 74. BetMGM also finished at 74 after scoring 77 last year, while FanDuel joined them at the same level after a three-point decline.

That left no single operator ahead of the group:

ESPN BET and Fanatics received 72 points each;
Caesars reached 71, up from 69 a year earlier;
theScore Bet, included in the ranking for the first time, also scored 71.

The difference between the highest and lowest scores is now only three points. Last year, the spread was nine.

Some Product Scores Are Moving Up

The lower satisfaction figure does not mean players rated every part of the experience worse. Loading speed and reliability reached 79 points, up from 76. The score for the range of services and betting options made the same move. Privacy remained one of the strongest areas at 80.

There were weak spots too. Mobile app quality edged down to 79, while ease of navigation fell to 78.

ACSI linked the overall decline to rising expectations. In other words, operators are improving parts of their products, but customers appear to be raising the bar at the same time.

Casino and Sportsbook Users Score Brands Higher

The sharpest difference appears when players are separated by the products they use. Customers active in both online casino and sports betting gave operators a satisfaction score of 78. Sportsbook-only users averaged 75. For casino-only customers, the figure was 70.

The mixed-product group is also getting larger. It represented 29% of respondents this year, compared with 25% in 2025.

Betting preferences produced another split. Auto racing bettors reported the highest satisfaction at 82, followed by golf and horse racing at 80. NBA bettors were at the bottom of the sports breakdown with 76.

Competition Is Shifting to the User Experience

The narrow gap between operators is probably the most useful signal in the study. Speed and betting choice are improving across the market, which makes them harder to use as clear differentiators.

The next gains may come from areas where customers still encounter friction, including navigation and movement between sportsbook and casino products. The higher score among dual-product users also suggests that operators with both verticals have an advantage when the experience between them works well.