An August 2022 report published by iDEA Growth member company “Light & Wonder” predicts that, if legalized, Hoosier State iGaming services could see annual revenues exceeding $700 million.
Could the formal legalization and licensing of online gaming in the Hoosier State create a $700M per year industry overnight?
According to an August 2022 report by UK research company Light & Wonder, not only would it be possible for Indiana online gaming companies to benefit from nearly a billion dollars in yearly revenue through licensed iGaming products… but the state could receive well over $100 million in yearly tax income as a result.
This is an activity that already occurs throughout the United States via offshore companies that are neither licensed nor authorized to operate within the nation but gain access to U.S. customers by offering their services online from headquarters in other countries.
“States are leaving billions of dollars in tax revenue on the table,” reads a recent headline of an article published by the iDevelopment and Economic Association. And with that potential industry revenue and tax allocation, local employment opportunities are likewise left “on the table” by states that have yet to take a serious look at how iGaming regulation could positively impact their jurisdiction.
At present, only six states within the continental U.S. have licensed online gaming products: New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Michigan.
Are Online Gaming Products Currently “Restricted” Within Indiana?
Legally speaking, there are no formally licensed iGaming services within Indiana. However, Indiana residents (and visitors) already have a “casino in their pocket” via their smartphones and can currently gamble at slots and table games online through companies that are located offshore.
One such offshore company that services the unlicensed Indiana iGaming market, Bovada, was recently named in a June 2022 letter sent by gaming constituency representatives to the U.S. Department of Justice.
And unlike legal, locally-licensed online sportsbooks that operate within Indiana (such as FanDuel Indiana, DraftKings Indiana, WynnBet Indiana, and many more), offshore companies are able to poach customers within the Hoosier State for both online sports betting and online slot products – even when iGaming isn’t regulated in the state.
This potentially reduces the employment opportunities and tax revenue for Indiana by a significant margin – as offshore iGaming products have proliferated within the United States in jurisdictions that have yet to set up a formal infrastructure for legalizing this activity.
Even in the case of Online Sports Betting, which is legalized and licensed in Indiana, the compliant companies that work locally with the state to provide tax revenue and jobs do not enjoy exclusivity due to the aggressive marketing activities of their offshore, non-regulated counterparts.
This, in turn, hinders the legal, locally-licensed industry while reducing tax revenue and job growth at the same time. If Indiana decided to authorize and license iGaming activities within the state, a good portion of revenue that is currently poached by offshore companies could be brought in locally to actually provide a direct benefit to the state and its constituents.
What’s more, responsible gaming resources within the legal, statewide U.S. online sports betting and iGaming market have made significant progress in recent years and now incorporate machine learning into proprietary RG tools that offshore companies simply don’t have access to.
These tools are often far superior to any responsible gaming techniques that offshore companies may possess (or intentionally choose to ignore despite a clear need for their use) – and the RG resources implemented by Entain and other companies that operate legally within the U.S. statewide market are extremely effective in thwarting underage gambling.
Statewide authorities in Indiana who are interested in learning more about the benefits of iGaming legalization within the Hoosier State are encouraged to contact iDEA Growth and/or consult with the numerous qualified experts who currently labor within the formally licensed U.S. statewide iGaming market.
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