The online iGaming landscape in the US is going through a lot of change, the ability for individual states to make the decision on its own iGaming services has seen tremendous success for those that have launched online sports betting and online casino options, and month by month those who have yet to make any change are adjusting of their own. For now, sports betting has been the big target and has seen the most adjustment and change with online casinos playing a backseat – so what is leading to the disconnect between online casinos and online betting in the US and will this gap close?
Some of the disconnect comes from the language that needs to be used in the bills once they’ve been submitted for approval – sports betting had run through it’s own trials already with some of the language in the bills submitted not being approved for a variety of reasons and is currently something that’s tripping many suggestions for online gambling up for the time being, until this language can be adjusted to be more favorable for the states and for the casinos that are already in operation, online gambling outside of betting will remain sparse.
There’s also the cultural aspect of gambling too – whilst places like Vegas and Atlantic City are well known for their incredible casinos, there’s still some stigmatism that comes with trips to the casino particularly for those looking to make a change to legislation and may be unable to get the support needed, attitudes are changing here because of the shift in online sports betting but opinions aren’t changing fast enough where it’ll become widespread and accepted across all states, and will likely find much longer delays to get rolled out completely.
Finally come the tribal rights that already exist for US based casinos in certain states – native American gaming is a huge part of the US gambling industry and there’s a lot to be considered when looking to launch online services that may impede on the tribal sovereignty in certain states – New York has recently managed to get around this by suggesting the online space is something else entirely to push legal online sports betting, but will be a roadblock that other states will have to overcome in order to find the same success that other countries have managed to find.
It’s an exciting period of time for US punters and change is on the way however slowly it may be, and the next few years could see a very different online landscape for iGaming services as a whole.