According to a new report, online gambling far exceed sports betting revenue in the US. The report shows that online casino betting is surging in the United States, delivering significant revenue to both casino operators and tax coffers. The report, issued by PlayCanada at the end of Q1 2022, found that legal and regulated online casino betting generates 153% more revenue for operators when compared to sports betting.
Crucially, the report also found that online casinos in the US were providing 339% more tax revenue than their sports betting counterparts. This makes online casinos an important part of the social fabric in the US and a key social and developmental driver.
Examining the Numbers in Detail
The report examined a number of key markets in the United States. Still, some of the most interesting findings came from four states in particular — New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia. Online casinos across these four states generated $3.8 billion in operator revenue and $976.8 million in taxes for state and local authorities. Sports betting providers, in contrast, achieved just $1.5 billion and $222.4 million, respectively. In terms of revenue, the total for just those four authorities was higher than the total for sports betting across the whole US.
Despite these imposing figures, online gambling in the US continues to be lopsided. Sports betting and related activities are legal and regulated in far more states than online casino gambling, demonstrating that regulators are more comfortable with licensing the former. This could prove to be a mistake for local and state authorities, as they are missing out on significant tax revenue.
How Do Sports Betting and Online Gambling in the US Relate to Canada?
The report focuses on the United States and serves as a bellwether for the future development of online gambling across the US. Regulators will likely take note of this report and begin to explore avenues that diversify the digital gambling sphere. As a result, we can perhaps expect a more even playing field in the future as online casinos move closer to the broad legal status enjoyed by sportsbook operators.
But what about the authors of the report? PlayCanada — as the name suggests — is not an American organization but a Canadian one. So how do US online casinos and sports betting relate to interests north of the border?
The report served as a case study for Ontario, as the Canadian province prepared to launch online casino gambling and sportsbook operations. Ontario made the leap to regulate casino and sports betting in April 2022, and the province is expected to support around 40 operators in total. PlayCanada’s report helps to encourage support for the move from the province’s regulators and suggests which direction regulation could move in.
By developing a fairer approach to online gambling than has been seen in the United States in recent years — i.e., offering equal status to sportsbook and online casino-based wagering — Canada’s provinces could see significant growth in tax revenue in the future.
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