Online casinos in the USA continue to flourish. The latest results published by the American Gaming Association (AGA) make impressive reading. Will the future however see increased regulation as is happening in the UK?
Figures for the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 saw gross gaming revenue of $16.47 billion. That’s a record amount and up 14.6 percent when compared to the same period in 2022. The records keep on being broken and this is the eighth successive quarter in which this has happened.
Just short of a quarter of the revenue came from gambling at online casinos. iGaming made a contribution of $1.5 billion.
The President and CEO of the AGA is Bill Miller. He commented that “the US gaming industry has never been stronger.” This is particularly impressive after the problems that were caused by the pandemic. He added: “From brick-and-mortar casinos to mobile gaming, American adults continue to choose gaming as one of their top entertainment options.”
It’s been an important past five years for the US gaming industry. In 2018 a US Supreme Court Judge made a ruling that changed the face of the industry forever. His ruling stated that individual American states should decide for themselves on whether or not to make gambling legal.
Since then over 30 states have done just that and this has seen a massive increase in the revenue amounts being earned. There are still some that are a long way from doing so. Online casinos have been opened by leading companies such as FanDuel, Caesars Entertainment and BetMGM. It’s anticipated that more states will go down the legalisation route in the future.
While the online casino figures are impressive, there’s the knowledge that they should actually be higher. One problem that still exists is the fact that there are still a large number of gamblers who choose to play at unregulated and unlicensed sites.
If you are looking at joining an online casino it is therefore best to join one that is being regulated. Going to a site that has lots of information about legal online casinos in the US is highly advisable if you want to join one that is both safe and secure.
A recent AGA study found that 78 percent of those questioned played at legal sites. That still leaves just over one in five who are visiting online casinos and other betting sites that are not being regulated by authorities. Many who do so believed that the sites they were visiting were in fact legal. Misleading information about whether an online casino is actually legal is an ongoing problem.
Gambling at an unregulated casino presents several problems. The gamblers themselves are more in danger of being subjected to online fraud. Then there’s the fact that the revenues being earned are not being subjected to taxation. This is costing American states a great deal of money.
It’s estimated that $64 billion a year is being wagered with illegal sites. That figure is well down on previous ones but the AGA says around $700 million a year in gambling tax revenue is being lost.
There is regulation of American online casinos. Those being granted licences have to undergo strict tests before they are granted. Allowing underage gambling or promoting their products to those not old enough to gamble is seriously frowned upon. Fines can be levied and in the worst case scenario, a licence withdrawn. Allowing out-of-state gambling is also clamped down on.
Concerns do exist over whether this increase in gambling at online casinos will cause increased addiction figures. The provision of help for those who are encountering problems is important. The online casinos themselves need to have responsible gaming information made available to their customers. That isn’t always the case at the unregulated sites.
In the United Kingdom there are moves being made to increase the regulation of online casinos. Their current Gambling Act came into force 18 years ago. The industry has totally changed since then with the arrival of online casinos.
The UK Government has pledged to bring the gambling laws into the digital age. It has taken them a fair while to do so and other countries in Europe have already taken stiff action against their gambling industries.
Recently the UK Government did finally publish their White Paper on gambling reform. It’ll be a fair while before any legislation is passed but the proposals don’t look like good news for the UK gambling industry.
Proposals include limits on the maximum stake on games seen at online casinos. There are also plans to impose stricter affordability checks on players who appear to be gambling way too much or suffering big losses. There are fears that this could lead gamblers to quite licensed sites and move to unregulated ones.
Could this happen in the US? It is a possibility but seems a long way off. Increased regulation is always something that may well occur.
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