A lot can happen in a year. And this past year, a lot happened in the legal sports betting and iGaming industry — and then some.
A referendum in Missouri, high-profile betting scandals, and crackdowns on an offshore sportsbook and college player prop wagering are just a few of the big stories of 2024. But there was much more.
So, to refresh our readers’ memories (as well as our own), Covers decided once again to round up the top stories of the year. The slow news days were few and far between, as you’ll soon see.
Missouri (barely) approves mobile sports betting
Any state approving legal sports betting is a big deal. How Missouri did it — and what comes next — makes it one of the year's most important stories.
Missouri approved retail and mobile sportsbooks by roughly 3,000 votes out of nearly three million cast. This was not just the closest margin of any gaming-related measure this election cycle but the closest in any state since the Supreme Court struck down the federal wagering ban in 2018.
After reviewing the final official results of every Missouri county with more than 10,000 votes this election, I can say - officially - that the sports betting ballot measure has maintained enough support from Election Day tallies to pass; sportsbooks will go live in MO in 2025
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) November 21, 2024
Missouri became the 39th state to approve legalized sports betting and was the only one to do so this year. The market structure, which will allow upwards of a dozen mobile books as well as retail operators — plus the fervent support in the Kansas City metro — positions Missouri to be one of the nation’s stronger per capita markets when betting begins in summer 2025. (Ryan Butler)
Everybody hates sports betting (well, kinda)
The sports betting industry had a run of bad press and harsh scrutiny to close out 2024, culminating in a U.S. Senate committee hearing that saw a lot of grievances aired.
This wasn’t just one story, but many that added up throughout the year that highlighted the simmering concerns and regrets about the business. Headlines like “Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake” are hard to wave away.
The rough stretch for sports betting could embolden lawmakers and regulators to make changes in 2025 and beyond. Operators may try to get in front of it all by making changes themselves.
At any rate, this was one of the biggest stories for the industry, showing that it wasn't all good news. (Geoff Zochodne)
The Ohtani/Porter scandals
Speaking of bad press, the worlds of sports and sports betting were rocked by two high-profile integrity scandals in 2024 that have had repercussions for the industry.
The first involved baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, whose former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, pleaded guilty to criminal charges after stealing millions from the Los Angeles Dodger to pay off debts owed to an illegal sportsbook.
Major League Baseball called Ohtani “a victim of fraud” and declared the matter closed. However, the incident served as a reminder that sports betting remains illegal in California, and the fallout stretched all the way to Las Vegas and its regulated gaming industry.
The second scandal hit the NBA, which banned Jontay Porter from the league after an investigation found the former Toronto Raptor limited his play in games for betting purposes, among other things. Criminal charges for Porter and his alleged co-conspirators followed.
There were consequences for bettors as well. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the matter raised concerns about “the types of bets offered on our games and players,” and sportsbooks have since ceased offering Unders on NBA players on two-way or 10-day contacts. (Geoff Zochodne)
The NCAA declares war on college player props
NCAA president Charlie Baker’s quest to protect student-athletes from jerk sports bettors — I’m paraphrasing — got serious traction this past year.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission got the ball rolling by announcing publicly it was considering and then approving an NCAA request to prohibit "player-specific prop bets" on college sports events. Louisiana, Maryland, and Vermont followed suit. New Jersey lawmakers are pondering legislation that would do the same.
College player prop betting is finished in Ohio as of March 1. Matthew Schuler, executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, announced today he approved the NCAA's request to ban such wagering. Any remaining futures must be voided by next Friday. pic.twitter.com/b9MXDJmZJE
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) February 23, 2024
Baker has since gone before a U.S. Senate committee to argue against college player props. Additional bans could be enacted, even if college player prop wagering is only a small slice of overall sports betting.
Furthermore, the NBA and NCAA's successes in restricting certain betting markets underscore that leagues can and may seek to tinker more with what’s on the menu at regulated sportsbooks. (Geoff Zochodne)
New York casinos delayed – again
The most anticipated East Coast casino opening in at least 50 years will have to wait a while longer.
New York policymakers did not back legislation pushed by the state’s biggest gaming advocates that would have sped up the licensing timeline for three downstate casinos. The properties are expected to generate billions of dollars in annual revenue (and hundreds of millions in taxes) in addition to licensing fees, a cash influx that won’t begin until the decade’s second half.
Nearly all major U.S. casino operators have expressed interest in these licenses in the biggest potential new brick-and-mortar gaming opportunity since New Jersey permitted legal casinos in Atlantic City in the mid-1970s. MGM’s Yonkers property and Resorts World’s facility in Queens are favorites to take two of the licenses, but the rest of the industry is jockeying for position for a third bid somewhere else within the five boroughs.
The lengthy process of picking the winning bids was a major story in 2024. It will be an even more significant development in 2025 — and maybe 2026. (Ryan Butler)
Online casinos boom as brick-and-mortar decline
2024 brought one of the more pronounced shifts from in-person to digital gaming since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all commercial casinos four years ago.
New Jersey, the long-time epicenter of gaming east of the Mississippi, saw iCasino revenue eclipse the total from the nine Atlantic City casinos. This shift could become even more dramatic when New York (finally) opens its first full-scale commercial casino properties.
In New Jersey and other established gaming markets — including Nevada — brick-and-mortar gaming revenues slipped in 2024 after seeing a spike after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. Nevada has, for now, no iCasino options, a hole in America’s most prominent gambling market that has become more apparent as customer dynamics and demographics increasingly shift online.
Only four states have full, competitive online casino gaming markets. But with marquee markets such as Atlantic City struggling, iGaming is set to be an even more enticing option for policymakers and an important revenue generator for gambling companies. (Ryan Butler)
Ontario’s iGaming model survives and thrives
It’s sometimes easy to forget what Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is doing when it comes to online sports betting and internet casino gambling is something entirely new for the country.
Ontario is still the only province to launch a competitive iGaming market that allows multiple private-sector operators to participate. Billions are being bet and hundreds of millions in revenue are being generated via dozens of operators and sites.
Nevertheless, until about halfway through 2024, Ontario’s model had a legal cloud hanging over it in the form of a lawsuit by the Quebec-based Mohawk Council of Kahnawàhke (MCK).
Some fairly big news here for online sports betting and iGaming in Ontario, as it looks like a Superior Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge of the province's online gambling model: pic.twitter.com/tJzsuOCbAT
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) May 13, 2024
In May, the cloud was lifted after an Ontario judge dismissed the lawsuit, finding the province was exerting enough control over its iGaming market to meet the “conduct and manage” threshold in Canada’s Criminal Code.
The ruling — and the MCK’s decision not to appeal — put Ontario’s iGaming model on much firmer legal ground. It also offered inspiration to any other province interested in launching a similar market. (Geoff Zochodne)
Alberta pushes back iGaming market launch
Alberta is one such province interested in launching an Ontario-like market for online sports betting, slots, and table games. Indeed, the Alberta government has made it clear it will follow the Ontario model closely, albeit with certain tweaks that reflect the differences in gaming in the two provinces.
However, in the fall, Alberta’s iGaming minister said the province was pumping the brakes on its plans. The province decided to take more time to speak with stakeholders and gather more input before going further.
Moreover, the government intends to introduce “enabling” legislation in the New Year to lay the groundwork for iGaming expansion. While the delay may have disappointed players and operators, it remains just that for now — a delay. (Geoff Zochodne)
Prediction markets nail the election
U.S. election betting has an interesting — and accurate — history. That was proven again as Betfair, Kalshi, Polymarket, and other election betting markets were dead-on about Donald Trump’s prospects of winning back the White House.
Current odds on Kalshi heading into Election Day
— Kalshi (@Kalshi) November 5, 2024
?Trump: 57%
?Harris: 43% pic.twitter.com/xQiRPE2wbO
The accuracy of the prediction markets in particular also gave operators ammunition against their critics. It also came as Kalshi continued to fight in court to keep offering political event contracts. That fight isn’t over, and 2025 will see more legal and regulatory arguments for election betting. (Geoff Zochodne)
Illinois hikes taxes, DraftKings gets creative
Illinois has become one of the more robust markets for legal sports betting in the U.S., but lawmakers threw a wrench into the works this year by hiking the state’s tax rate to as high as 40% for operators.
DraftKings decided it would not take this and other large tax rates lying down. The Boston-based bookmaker unveiled a plan for a small surcharge on winning bets that it would impose on players in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Illinois.
The coming DraftKings winning bet surcharge tax rate will vary by state, but in an example $DKNG gave in Illinois with a winning $10 bet at +100, the bettor received back $19.68 instead of $20 due to the tax. That would roughly translate to an odds shift from +100 to -104.
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) August 1, 2024
It was a bold move, but DraftKings reversed course after FanDuel and other competitors declined to do the same.
DraftKings and others are still grappling with those higher tax rates, including a previous hike by Ohio that is already being reconsidered and a slight one being pondered by Michigan. With the 2025 legislative season looming, we’ll see where lawmakers go next. (Geoff Zochodne)
The Bovada C&D bonanza
Bovada has long been widely available in the U.S. However, this past year, regulators from legal gaming states rediscovered the art of letter-writing and peppered the Curacao-based sportsbook and casino with cease-and-desist requests.
As a result, Bovada’s U.S. footprint has shrunk. The company says it has restricted access to customers in more than a dozen states. That list could grow.
The question for the New Year is if additional states will lean on Bovada and/or its offshore sportsbook brethren. The Bovada C&D blueprint may also give some ideas to lawmakers and operators that have a growing interest in sweepstakes casinos and sportsbooks. (Geoff Zochodne)
Florida sports betting’s Supreme triumph
Like in Ontario, the sports betting status quo in Florida had some legal question marks coming into 2024. Before the year was over, those questions would be answered in a way that has ensured the Seminole Tribe and Hard Rock Bet remain in control in the Sunshine State.
In March, the Supreme Court of Florida threw out a challenge to the state’s sports betting setup. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a federal legal challenge.
The two decisions meant the legal monopoly over legal sports betting in Florida remained in place. Hard Rock now enjoys one of the biggest markets in the U.S. all to itself, although it is reportedly mulling over potential partnerships and the addition of online casino gambling. (Geoff Zochodne)
