17/08/2023
iGaming in the United States
To say that the US has a complicated history with iGaming is just the tip of the iceberg. It is far beyond the scope of this article to delve into various initiatives that pushed forward or blocked the march of the iGaming industry. Nor would it serve any purpose for marketers that simply want to launch an iGaming focused campaign.
What is important to say is that the legal framework in the US is complex enough without various parties and stakeholders battling each other with contradicting laws. Some laws that are important to iGaming are served on the federal level (like the long-standing ban on financing such services), while others are regulated on a state level – and some are even a part of a whole separate framework that regulates the matters of Native Americans (since they are allowed to run traditional brick-and-mortar casinos).
The bird’s eye view of this topic is as follows: while in Europe and other parts of the world online gambling sites could, with supporting legislation, enter the market and start advertising their services, in the US, iGaming platforms had to be developed in conjunction with their traditional counterparts. A hotel and a casino can launch its iGaming platform and use its marketing resources, guest list and so on to attract customers to continue gambling while not on the casino’s premises.
As of 2022, the US is yet to be infiltrated by big foreign players or conquered by rising and merging domestic companies.
