Abstract
The gaming world is being pulled in opposite directions. On the one hand, the industry is rebounding from the COVID pandemic, with revenues at or above pre-pandemic levels in most regions—even Macau is springing back to life. On the other hand, recession concerns persist, and many of the measures put in place in the U.S. are being rolled back.
Focusing on the U.S., the spigot of federal aid to states is being turned off, and a large cohort of consumers will soon have to tighten the purse strings as student loan payments resume.
That creates an interesting situation for the industry as we approach 2024. Overhanging everything is online gambling. Thus far, online casinos and online poker have been largely rejected in the U.S. Sports-related gambling, be it daily fantasy sports or traditional sports betting, has gained a strong foothold, but casino-style online gambling products have been kept at bay.
That could all start to change next year. Will states shift their attention towards online casinos and online poker when they try to compensate for the lost federal funds? Will operators more readily embrace online options as consumers become more discerning? And pertinent to the current issue of Gaming Law Review (GLR), will the Florida-Seminole case finally open the door for tribes to enter the online gambling arena?
And how will states go about legalization? In some locales, we've seen interesting workarounds, with gambling products reclassified as skill games and online gambling redefined as a new delivery method of already legal gambling rather than an expansion of gambling that would require amending the state's constitution.
As always, this industry will be fun to watch in the coming months.