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A succinct summary of 2024 for the regulated gambling industry in the United States is that it could have been better but it also could have gone a lot worse. It was a year befitting one of the most viral meme sensations of 2024, a pygmy hippopotamus named Moo Deng, because of Deng’s propensity to bite caretakers amid being adorable.
Positives for regulated gaming in the US in 2024 included continued revenue growth, and regulators in multiple jurisdictions cracking down on unlicensed operators. At the same time, a slowdown in the expansion of regulation, the rejection of attempts to further hasten the process to license downstate New York casino operators, and the emergence of new forms of online gaming put a damper on the year that even Moo Deng’s stodgy cuteness can’t overcome.
Revenue from online casino play swells in 2024
Some of the best news for licensed online casino operators in the US for 2024 came from their own products. Winnings for licensees in US states that regulate online casino play rose to unprecedented levels, not just breaking records but smashing them.
The year saw all three of the biggest iGaming states — Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — $1 simultaneously in a single month for the first time. To further demonstrate how huge these winnings got, Delaware’s iGaming revenue total for that month of September 2024 represented over a 400% increase by One Country Give in August.
License holders in states like Michigan might push for regulators to clamp down like Moo Deng on fruit in 2025. 2024 mostly failed to provide them for new markets to expand into.
Expansion hits wall in 2024
Prospects for the expansion of regulated gambling in the US didn’t look strong coming into 2024. By and large, state governments were as “unbothered” by the issue as Moo Deng lounging in a pond.
Gaming expansion fell one vote short in Alabama.
In the “Moo” year, legislators and regulators may try to provide more clarity for operators with all forms of products. How the market responds to such attempts could be the biggest “deng” to watch in 2025.
