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Legal Online Casino Expansion May Result In More Annual, Tax Revenue

According to Las Vegas-based gaming company Light & Wonder, expanding legal online casinos to more U.S. states has the potential to gain annual revenue of over $30 billion with tax revenue of $6,35 billion.

The research, commissioned by Light & Wonder and conducted by VIXIO GamblingCompliance, examined the prospective financial outcomes if internet gaming, often known as iGaming, were legalized in the 42 states that now permit land-based casinos, mobile sports betting, or both. Nevada now exclusively allows online poker.

Research findings

The $6,35 billion tax revenue projection is predicated on a 20 percent tax rate for new states, which is higher than Nevada’s 6.75 percent charge, comparable to Michigan’s 19 percent tax, but below Pennsylvania’s 54 percent tax for online slots.

The forecasts were created independently of Light & Wonder by VIXIO. Online gaming consists of slot-themed games as well as traditional casino table games that are played on a digital platform.

Light & Wonder, established in Las Vegas, offers online gaming platforms, gaming content, and integration technologies for traditional casino games and digital products.

According to the report’s authors, the expected tax revenue indicated an iGaming market that had met the standards of maturity, which may take at least the second or third year of full operations.

According to Howard Glaser, Light & Wonder’s global head of government affairs, developing legal online casino gaming will allow states to enhance tax revenue.

“States are leaving billions of dollars in tax revenue on the table which could fund a variety of public programs and services without resorting to broad-based taxes,” Glaser said.

Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are the six states that have authorized online casino gaming. Meanwhile, five other states (New York, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky,) are reportedly exploring iGaming legislation.

U.S. iGaming market

The Nevada Gaming Control Board delayed a workshop session last year to examine potential policy reforms that would enable the state to provide full online casino gaming. The hearing was never set again.

According to the American Gaming Association, legal iGaming produced $3,71 billion in total revenue and $970 million in gaming taxes in 2021. In comparison, sports betting in 30 states produced $4,29 billion in revenue while only collecting $560 million in taxes.

For the time being, internet gaming development in Nevada outside online poker is absent due to a lack of consensus among the gaming market on the addition of online casinos.

Nevada authorized internet poker in 2013. However, Caesars Entertainment is the only operator.

Station Casinos, Red Rock Resorts’ operations affiliate, led a group of major and small gaming operators in protesting any extension of online regulation unless it was first evaluated by the governor’s Gaming Policy Committee and then authorized by the state legislature a year ago.

Months later, MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle said that Nevada’s gaming business was losing a big potential for development due to the state’s refusal to approve online casino gaming.

He did, however, mention that “there’s a whole contingent of folks who own a lot of brick and mortar (casinos) in this state” who are opposed to allowing online casino gaming.

Nevada Gaming Control Board

The Nevada Gaming Control Board, also known as the State Gaming Control Board, (wikipedia)