The battle to be top dog in the USA’s iGaming sector
The history of online gambling in the US, or iGaming as it has become known, is one with many twists and turns. First introduced in the mid-1990s, many operators entered the sector. However, in 2006, they had their wings severely clipped by the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. This forbade financial institutions from processing any payments linked to online gambling and effectively closed down all online operators who wanted to act legally.
Then, in 2018, came the historic Supreme Court ruling making sports betting online legal for any state that wanted to introduce it. This is seen as a watershed moment for iGaming in the country. Today, around 30 states have made sportsbooks legal and are rising. This has acted as a catalyst for the gradual legalization of online casinos, too.
With a sector believed to be worth $6.89 billion in 2026, rising to over $14 billion by 2031, it is attracting fierce competition amongst operators to take advantage of a modern-day gold rush. With the sector encompassing everything from sportsbooks to online casinos and from poker sites to bingo games, there’s certainly plenty to play for. So who are the big players involved?
The main names
Currently, the No.1 iGaming brand in the country is FanDuel with about 44% of the sports betting market. It is using its huge customer base to cross-sell its casino offering.
Next up is DraftKings, another sportsbook-based operator with nearly as large a market share as FanDuel. The first of the “traditional” casino operators to make a showing is BetMGM. With a forecasted annual revenue of $3.2 billion for 2026, it has plenty to invest in its iGaming operation. It also has the distinct advantage of creating tie-ins with its physical venues and its highly regarded loyalty program.
Two other land-based operators are also starting to make inroads. Caesars Digital makes a great deal of its links to the iconic Caesars Palace to transfer players to its online offering. Similarly, Hard Rock is starting to integrate its physical and online brands.
State by state
As of April 2026, the battle for supremacy is taking place across eight states that have legalized online casinos and the 30 where sports betting is also permitted. The focus is very much on the ones where casino play is legal, and these are Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Nevada – although the home of Las Vegas only permits online poker.
Two more states are soon to introduce online casinos, Maine and Wisconsin, and New York is also keen to join in. The arrival of online casinos in the US gambling scene has also given rise to a number of sites like Casino Guru US, which provide comprehensive reviews of the casinos as well as share news that affects the sector, such as new legislation and trends that are being observed.
The weapons in the operators’ armories
The battle to dominate the market is a very competitive one. So the big names are having to use all the weapons at their disposal. We’ve already touched on the fact that FanDuel and DraftKings are working to capture the customers of their sportsbooks and switch them to the more profitable online casinos. One advantage they have is the data they have about these players, so they can offer an increasingly personalized service.
Another tool that all operators use very effectively is the welcome bonus. This is usually a combination of free stake money as well as a set number of free spins on slot games. Incidentally, the use of review sites like the one we’ve already mentioned is a very good way to see and compare the different bonuses on offer before linking to the preferred site to claim one. AI is also playing an increasing role for operators, and DraftKings is making particularly extensive use of this in personalizing its offering.
Consolidation on the horizon?
Looking around the world, it’s undoubtedly the UK that has the most mature iGaming sector. This is because it was one of the first countries to officially regulate the activity.
So it may offer some clues about the future of iGaming in the US. From a start-point where there were a large number of UK operators, the 2010s saw a number of mega-mergers that were caused by a need to regulate costs and build a bigger presence.
Whether the US iGaming sector will follow a similar pattern remains to be seen. But what’s for certain is that the ball has started rolling and it’s gathering momentum fast. So we can predict that the sector is set to increase in size over the coming years – and there’s a very rich prize in store for the operator who comes to dominate overall.
