This week’s gambling news focuses on the expected growth of US online casino betting, and in particular the expansion of regulated internet casino games. Why are online betting and casinos about to explode now? And what lead us to this point? We also look at a new interview we just released that relates to this topic, and a major casino game manufacturer that’s rebranding ahead of the expected explosion.
What a great time for our industry here in America, as online casino betting seems ready to explode across the entire country! And you can thank the regulation of sports betting for that… which leads us to this week’s big story! I always try to balance this show with equal parts of news and education. To that end I’ve been telling people for quite a while that the expansion of mobile sports betting across the United States is, in fact, the expansion of online gambling, because the same technology can be used to regulate both.
Licensing, geolocation, age verification, and payment processing have all been successful under mobile sports betting regulations. So the only thing stopping the expansion of online casino betting is… well, nothing! Nothing except the imagination and the willingness of state legislators. Even though there are 33 states regulating sports betting, there are only six regulating online casino games. But that number could be changing soon, and in a big way, as one state that has been making sports betting headlines recently is now considering expanding into full-blown online casino game regulation!
New York state has been setting revenue records ever since they launched regulated sports betting in early January. And now, with the taste of all that fresh money in their mouths, legislators in the state are ready to throw open the doors to all forms of online gambling: Slots! Blackjack! Roulette! Hey, whatever brings in the cash! Now here’s where things get interesting, because if New York state regulates online casino betting they could actually end up making more in tax revenue from those games than they currently do from sports betting regulation! Because casino games are played all year long whereas sports betting is seasonal!
If this happens, my friends, many industry experts believe that we will see a landslide of online gambling regulations sweep across the country, as state after state after state follows New York’s lead and changes the face of gambling in America forever! Or, politics could get in the way and screw it all up. You know… either or. And since we’re on the topic of online gambling… and since we’re discussing how sports betting could help the growth of online casino betting… we thought now was the perfect time to release our interview with the American Gaming Association that we conducted at last year’s Global Gaming Expo, where we discuss how the Covid lock downs actually helped with the regulation of mobile sports bets, and how that regulation has opened the door to online casino games. We even touch on how all of this ties together with the growth of digital currencies in our industry. You can find the AGA interview on this website and our YouTube channel!
And finally this week, if you need any more proof about which direction our industry is heading just take a look at one of the largest slot machine and casino game manufacturers in the industry: Scientific Games! At least they used to be Scientific Games. The company that was Scientific Games has sold their lottery and sports betting businesses and rebranded as Light & Wonder! But why? Well, the company says that they would like to focus their attention on cross-platform products! That means games made for land-based casinos, online casinos, and mobile casinos! I mean, what more do you need to know?