A new report from intelligence firm Vixio predicts the U.S. iGaming industry will overtake the U.K. as the world’s largest online gaming market by gross revenue by the end of 2024.
The company’s June 2024 U.S. iGaming Outlook report forecasts that total U.S. iGaming gross gaming revenue will grow by 22% year-on-year to reach a total of $8.2 billion in 2024. Boosted by the recent launch of Rhode Island, the American market will eclipse the U.K. market, which is set to be worth $7.5 billion this year.
Even in a hypothetical “bear” case in which no additional states approve legislation in the next three years, Vixio predicts that the U.S. iGaming market will be worth nearly $11 billion in 2017.
The Vixio report notes that U.S. iGaming has experienced “a steep change in scale” since 2019, which it says has been fueled by changes to player behavior in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as greater betting-to-gaming cross-sell facilitated by the rapid legislative rollout and consumer adoption of online sports betting across the U.S. It cited the most mature market in the U.S. as an example, highlighting that New Jersey’s iGaming market almost quadrupled in size between 2019 and 2023.
After Rhode Island’s launch in March, seven U.S. states now offer commercial online gaming as of July 2024.
In addition, 10 states offer interactive or online lottery games. Michigan, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania all offer both iGaming and iLottery.
The report expects U.S. iGaming to expand at roughly the same pace as the years that immediately followed the pandemic, at a rate of roughly one new state launch every other year.
Challenges to legislation could hamper progress
The report also noted that six states considered bills to authorize iGaming during their 2024 sessions but none of that sextet approved legislation. Maryland came the closest, but a bill approved by the House in March ultimately failed to advance in the state Senate.
Illinois, Iowa, Maine, New York and Wyoming all also discussed potential legislation to change state laws on iGaming in the first half of this year. Vixio asserted that New York and Illinois represent the biggest opportunities in revenue terms, “although significant obstacles to approval remain in both states.”
In particular, the report’s authors stressed that policy discussions for iGaming are more complicated and take longer to progress through state legislatures than for sports betting. It cited reasons such as lawmakers being more skeptical of online casinos than sports wagering, as well as cannibalization concerns from the land-based casino industry.
“The U.S. now overtaking the U.K. highlights the U.S. iGaming paradox in 2024,” wrote Vixo Gambling Compliance Chief Analyst James Kilsby. “Online casino games are generating significant revenue, especially in the three key markets of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Yet, industry advocates are encountering more opposition in their efforts to expand regulation to additional states, as certain land-based casino operators and labor unions point to concerns of cannibalization and perceived competitive imbalances in online gambling.”
Vixio added that it anticipates legislative discussions in 2025 or beyond in further states including Colorado, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Ohio and Virginia.
