Will iGaming Expand In the South In 2024?

Discussions about expanding iGaming into some key Southern states in 2024 have not surfaced so far, according to gaming regulators. These are states that already have other forms of legal gambling. 

Nationwide, iGaming is legal in only a half dozen states, while sports betting is legal and live in 37 states and Washington, D.C. -- an indication and iGaming has room to grow.

Though several lawmakers have said it is difficult in some states to approve gaming measures during an election year, legislatures across the country could consider legalizing iGaming in 2024. iGaming allows bettors to download apps to play the games found on a casino floor — craps, roulette, slots, poker and more — for real money.

In Tennessee, Mary Beth Thomas, executive director of the state’s Sports Wagering Council, told Gambling.com in an email this week that she has “not heard of anything” regarding plans to legalize iGaming in the state. The next legislative session begins Jan. 9 in Nashville and ends April 25.

Mobile sports betting is legal in Tennessee, with 13 licensed operators, but the state does not have brick-and-mortar casinos or sportsbooks.

New Governor Takes Office In Louisiana

Along the Gulf Coast, Louisiana’s legislative session begins later in the year, but nothing has surfaced yet about iGaming, according to Ronnie Johns, a former state senator chairing the Gaming Control Board. 

“I have not heard of anything yet,” Johns told Gambling.com this week. “We have a new governor taking office in January with a somewhat new Legislature. The next session starts in March, so I figure by January (or) February we may have a clue if something will be introduced.”

Gov.-elect Jeff Landry, a Republican, will be sworn in Jan. 8 at 11:30 a.m. at the Capitol in Baton Rouge. He succeeds John Bel Edwards, a Democrat whose time in office included the legalization of in-person sports betting at commercial casinos and mobile sports betting in most of the state’s parishes.

Louisiana is one of the country’s most gaming-active states, with 14 riverboat casinos, a land-based casino in New Orleans, four horse tracks with slots, 11,834 video gaming devices at 1,390 locations, 18 retail sportsbooks and 10 mobile sportsbooks, according to the Gaming Control Board.

Off-Site Online Betting Illegal In Mississippi 

Also along the Gulf Coast, lawmakers in Mississippi have shot down previous legislative efforts to legalize any online gaming, including off-site mobile sports betting.

The state is home to 26 commercial casinos and three tribal casinos. All offer in-person sports betting. 

In addition, three commercial casinos allow mobile sports betting, but only for guests who remain on the property. Those casinos are Beau Rivage in Biloxi (BetMGM), Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi (IGT platform) and Palace Casino in Biloxi (IGT platform).

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians offers on-site mobile sports at its Silver Star and Golden Moon casinos. As with the commercial casinos that allow on-site mobile sports betting, geofencing at the tribal casinos prohibits the apps from being used off-property.

Jay McDaniel, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, previously told Gambling.com that some casino operators oppose online gaming out of concern that customers won’t visit the brick-and-mortar properties.

That issue is raised in a report released this month from the Mississippi Mobile-Online Sports Betting Task Force. The legislative session is slated to run from Jan. 2-May 5 in the capital city, Jackson.

Next door in Arkansas, where the legislative session begins April 10 in Little Rock, no iGaming proposals have been put forth publicly.

iGaming ‘Inevitable’ in New York, Senator Says

Across the country, online gaming proponents, including New York state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens, note that iGaming platforms can be affiliated with brick-and-mortar casinos to provide incentives for customers to visit the property.

With its potential to raise even more state revenue than mobile sports betting, iGaming is “inevitable” at some point in New York, Addabbo told Gambling.com.

“iGaming is where the real money is,” the senator said..

In New York, the 2024 legislative session is scheduled to begin Jan. 3 and conclude June 6.

Currently, iGaming is legal only in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and Michigan.

Three of those states — Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — border New York, offering dozens of traditional casino games that users can play on computers or cellphone apps.

In Connecticut, about 500 online casino games are available for players, Kaitlyn Krasselt, communications director for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, told Gambling.com.

Addabbo has pointed out that New York is losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year to bordering states in lost iGaming revenue.