Online gaming enjoyed yet another banner year in 2023, and its future only appears brighter with iGaming set to once again bulldoze it way onto 2024 USA Center Stage. Online casino games continue to gain popularity as entertainment for the masses while offering exciting chances of winning, but at a more gradual pace than betting on sports.
Legislative progress could see Minnesota and Georgia join over 30 online sports betting authorized states. As we round the bend with 2024 in sight we explore some of the trends bound to enhance the iGaming world for players in 2024.
No Longer A Matter of If, But When
The latest sports betting boom first struck New York in early 2022. After witnessing the benefit, Senator Addabbo Jr. and Pretlow confirmed preparations for a new legislative push to legalize iLottery and iGaming in 2024. Despite a potential delay until 2025, IGaming is making steady progress towards legalization within the Empire State.
Addabbo Jr. introduced the iGaming bill to legalize online casino slots, live dealer games, and table games, but it never gained traction. Where most states average an iGaming tax rate of 15% to 18%, New York went straight for a 30.5% iGaming tax rate. It will be interesting to observe how long the Empire State can continue to overlook this untapped revenue.
Primed for the Opposite
In comparison to previous close calls for authorizing a legal iGaming framework in 2021 and 2022, 2023 was an extremely quiet year for lottery and gambling legislation in the state of Alabama. If it’s all about money, things could change in the new year, especially if legalization is based on Ivey’s study group's estimate that legalization could result in an additional, currently untapped, annual revenue of up to $710 million.
The breakdown includes up to $300 million from the state lottery, an estimated $10 from sports betting, with $400 million contributed by casino gaming. Flowers explained a few of the factors that made legalization challenging are the different concepts, and sectors of where the money should be spent and invested. Whitt shared that the continued and historic loss of revenue due to not having a legal iGaming framework in place remains a sore subject.
Tribe Involvement: Shaping iGaming Opportunities in 2024
2024 will also be a watershed moment for tribal engagement in iGaming, both practically and legally. Due to antiquated federal legislation (the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 1988), which never envisaged the prospect of tribes delivering their goods to persons not situated on tribal land via digital technology, the junction between internet gaming and tribal gambling has always been a bit murky.
States such as Michigan found ways to involve tribes in statewide iGaming and online sports betting through commercial agreements, but the path has been much more challenging in Florida, where litigation over the tribes' gaming compacts has wound its way through federal court and is now knocking on the Supreme Court's door. The new year could reignite a sports betting debate in California in the 2024 election cycle.
Scrutiny of Fantasy Sites Operating in Grey Areas
Legalized sports betting and online casinos in the USA continue to generate income well above previous predictions or expectations. Prop fantasy sites discovered in numerous jurisdictions inviting players to choose whether two or more players will meet the given statistical threshold are among the activities subverting new sports betting taxation and regulatory systems.
Regulators found that such operators provide betting services like legalized operators under the pretence of fantasy sports, which are subject to severe regulatory or unregulated scrutiny while available to anyone over the age of 18. Numerous states have already closed in on these and exposed such enterprises for not paying sports betting taxes or offering legalized services.
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