Share
An economic study released Thursday highlights the market-expanding effect of online casinos on the overall gaming market and the complementary nature of iGaming and land-based casinos.
Analysis Group, Inc., conducted the comprehensive, 167-page study on behalf of the Sports Betting Alliance, comprised of four of the biggest US online gaming companies.
The study shows land-based casino revenue growth rates across the six established US online casino gaming markets increased by nearly 2% after introducing iCasino.
After evaluating data from the iCasino markets, the study projected the potential impact of legalizing online casinos in five states — New York, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland and Virginia.
Only Maryland is actively considering iGaming legalization, with an online casino bill passed by the House waiting for a committee hearing in the Senate. New York and Illinois have online casino bills, while Louisiana may still introduce a bill this session. PlayUSA updates all iCasino legislation in its online casino bill tracker.
Analysis Group’s empirical evidence showing that existing US iCasino markets haven’t experienced cannibalization or job loss matches feedback recently provided to PlayUSA by regulators in these states.
Key findings of Sports Betting Alliance-backed study
The study evaluated data in six current states with online casinos — New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut and Delaware.
In doing so, Analysis Group looked at pre-existing industry trends before a state launched iGaming and changes after launch.
Here are some of the key findings:
- Total gaming revenue with online and land-based casinos is 46% higher than before the states launched iCasino. And when taking into account the direction the states’ casino revenues were headed before introducing iGaming, this increases to 75%.
- The growth rate for land-based gaming revenues was down 2.2% before the introduction of iCasino but has now stabilized at -0.2%.
- Considering the negative trend retail casinos were on, they have brought in 17.7% more revenue as a result of iCasino.
Interviews show why iCasino may accentuate land-based casinos
In addition to data, the study included a survey of the gambling habits of consumers in these states to explain better the increase of land-based gambling shown.
The survey responses backed up the study results that online casino is associated with increased demand for land-based gaming options.
- After iCasino was legalized in their states, 26.5% of respondents said their visits to land-based casinos increased, 49.4% said they stayed the same, 18.7% said they decreased.
- After iCasino was legalized in their states, 26.1% of respondents said their total play at land-based casinos increased, 52.2% said it stayed the same, 16.9% said it decreased.
- 13.5% of respondents in the five potential future legal online casino markets admitted they participated in iGaming in the past 12 months.
For the state gambling survey, Analysis Group polled 2,389 people in total, 1,230 from states with online casinos and 1,109 from future markets.
Analysis Group also conducted consumer research interviews for anecdotal evidence related to the study.
About the online casino study
For more than 40 years, Analysis Group has provided expertise in economics, finance, health care analytics and strategy to top law firms, Fortune Global 500 companies and government agencies worldwide.
It employs more than 1,200 people across 14 offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
Analysis Group VPs Mickey A. Ferri and Laura O’Laughlin served as primary authors of the study.
Analysis Group provided reasons its study is superior to previous online casino studies:
- It considers the trends of land-based gaming in states before iCasino launched.
- It uses three different approaches to evaluate the impact of iCasino on land-based gaming.
- The study developed a novel model to project iCasino revenues based on sports betting revenues.
- The survey provides validation to the primary results of the analysis.
- It uses the most up-to-date data through 2023.
How data might impact states considering iCasino legalization
The study suggests that New York, Illinois, Maryland, Louisiana and Virginia could all have their cake and eat it too. By legalizing online casinos, they could add substantial revenue while increasing land-based casino revenue as well.
In a five-year period by 2029, Analysis Group projects these states could collectively increase land-based revenues by 14.5% as a result of legalizing iCasino. And this is without taking into consideration additional casinos expected to open in New York and Illinois during this time.
For Maryland, where Senate lawmakers have less than three weeks before session end to make a decision on the House iCasino bill, the state could nearly double total gaming revenues.
The study projects $3.9 billion in total gaming revenue for a Maryland market including iGaming in 2029, a 91% increase over the $2 billion baseline for this year. That includes an additional $641 million in land-based casino revenue.
