Slow but Steady Progress of iGaming in the U.S.

• Three of the top sports betting operator leaders discussed iGaming’s journey at SBC Summit North America
• The progress of iGaming has been slow in the U.S.
• States should begin to turn their attention to legalizing online gaming

While sports betting expansion in the U.S. has skyrocketed since 2018, iGaming legislation has lagged behind, with only six states presently offering online gaming throughout the country.

But, leaders of FanDuel, BetMGM, and Rush Street Interactive shared their positivity at SBC Summit North America for the iGaming market and how online gaming opportunities would factor into their businesses in the near future.

Legalization on Its Way

Despite the slow expansion and legalization of iGaming, FanDuel President Christian Genetski predicted that states with legalized sports betting and existing land-based casinos would soon turn their attention to iGaming legislation.

The catalyst for legislation will be the need for additional revenue streams in states with “crunched budgets,” Genetski said.

“When state budgets are crunched and looking for new revenues, iGaming becomes a much more valuable option,” he noted.

The slow growth of iGaming is more due to state’s not viewing it as a priority during their legislative sessions, not necessarily that there’s a hesitation for expanding gambling within the state, Genetski explained.

State legislators only have a few short months to push bills and laws through their respective chambers, so if iGaming is third or fourth on the list of priorities, it’s easy to get overlooked.

Indiana, Iowa, and New York have all shown good progress towards iGaming and could be potential states to legalize soon.

One state that likely won’t be legalizing iGaming anytime soon? Nevada. Adam Greenblatt, CEO of BetMGM, said Silver State already has too much incumbent opposition to iGaming to make it a realistic target for legalization.

“You’re not going to see any progress in Nevada until that’s addressed,” Greenblatt said.

iGaming Innovation on the way

For the last 20 years, innovation in iGaming has been licensing new games and technology from third-party operators, said Richard Schwartz, CEO of Rush Street Interactive.

Innovation for iGaming is changing, he said, as users expect more options and “unexpected experiences” during their iGaming sessions.

Retaining these customers, getting them integrated across all of an operator’s services, is key to increased revenues and profitability, Schwartz explained.

An iGaming user is “5.3 times more profitable” to Rush Street Interactive when compared with a sportsbook only customer, he said. A combined iGaming and sportsbook user when compared to just a sportsbook users?

“It’s 14 times more profitable for RSI,” Schwartz said.

Poker Only Bills on the Way Out

One trend that’s expected to slow in state legislature’s is “poker only” bills that were popular for the last several years. Genetski, Schwartz, and Greenblatt all agreed that while poker is a valuable tool for the operators, it should be included in an overall iGaming bill and not in a poker only piece of legislation.

Poker will have its day again, Greenblatt said, but right now it should not have specific legislation dedicated to only its legalization.