On Wednesday, the SBC Summit North America, a major gaming industry conference, met. One of the main concerns was how difficult it has been for operators to expand online gaming in the United States. Online casino gaming is only legal in a handful of states. Despite that, industry executives believe online gaming is the future of betting markets in the US. Elizabeth Suever, the vice president of Bally’s Corporation, noted that millennials are comfortable with running their lives from their phone. 

Young people use their phones to text, play games, go on social media, and so many other things. Additionally, phones can be used to play online casino games. However, only seven states including Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia offer online casino games. On the flip side, 38 states including Washington D.C. offer online sports gambling. What has made the expansion of online casino games so difficult in the US?

Panelists at the SBC Summit North America spoke about their dissatisfaction with slow online casino game expansion

In most cases, lawmakers need to be educated on sports betting and online casino games. It’s still a new market in the United States and it’s hard for older people to grasp the concept. That’s why panelists think they need to draw comparisons in the industry. Specifically, between legal markets and illegal off-shore accounts. Lawmakers need to understand that legal online casino markets are regulated and offer customer protection. Legal online casino markets offer responsible gambling options like self-imposed timeouts and deposit activity limits. 

FanDuel senior director Cesar Fernandez said online casino games could prove more attractive soon. He noted that federal post-pandemic air is starting to dry up and states are looking for new ways to bring in revenue. They want to be able to do this without raising taxes on their residents. 

Other industry executives have argued against the expansion of online casino games. They claim that this could lead to an increased addiction to casino games in the US. It would be putting a slot machine in people’s pockets and that doesn’t sit well with lawmakers. Additionally, casino executives have said that online casinos are hurting their physical brick-and-mortar casinos. Rob Norton, president of Cordish Gaming, claims that casinos are setting themselves up for failure if they continue to expand to offering online casino games.