What U.S. iGaming Can Learn From the UK?
By Space Coast Daily // July 27, 2021
The iGaming industry of the United States drives a lot of revenue every year and has an estimated worth of $1.98 billion as of 2020. The industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17.32% by 2026. This is mostly because of a large influx of players in sports betting online and more states considering relaxing online gambling laws.
Though many states have already moderated iGaming laws, the iGaming industry in the U.S. is still subjected to legislative and regulatory problems. In comparison to the United Kingdom, the United States is far more sceptical about online gambling. Let’s dig a little deeper into what the United States can learn from the United Kingdom when it comes to iGaming.
iGaming in the U.S.
Due to a time-honoured and long-standing moralistic streak in the American society, a significantly large part of the country wants to ban anything deemed sinful. Despite the leftward shift of the American society on other fronts, there are areas that the American society wants to protect from any kind of Puritanical compromise. Gambling seems to be one of those areas.
Though the severe legal restrictions imposed on online gambling in many parts of the U.S. is ascribed to the deep-rooted conservatism prevailing in the American society, lobbyists who want to maintain the unlicensed and underground status of iGaming in America act as a major impediment to the success of the American iGaming industry.
Given the monumental fanbases located all the across the US of incredibly dedicated and loyal NFL fans, it’s no surprise that the iGaming sector will look to capitalise on this market and allow sports betting to flourish in each state.
Though the land-based gambling industry in the U.S. thinks that their lobbying efforts to avoid competition with the online gambling industry worked, they actually backfired and gave birth to the largest underground gambling market in the world.
U.S. vs U.K. iGaming Laws
Though the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed in 2006 did not declare iGaming as completely illegal, it forbade financial institutions to process transactions that came from online gambling sites. This means that you cannot withdraw the money you win in an online bet to your bank, make any deposit etc.
Some markets like fantasy sports bets, some skill games, and some legal inter-tribal or interstate gaming markets were excluded from this bill. Although UIGEA does not make it illegal for U.S. residents to participate in iGaming, it certainly makes it difficult for them to send and receive money from online gambling platforms, the most common being classic casino titles like online casino games at Casumo.
Unlike the iGaming industry in the U.K. iGaming in America is not regulated. However, there have been some changes in the U.S. iGaming laws in recent years with some states like New Jersey and Delaware offering to regulate online gambling. The United Kingdom, however, has a Gambling Commission linked with the government’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport to regulate online gambling.
Many online casinos located outside the U.S. accept players from the U.S. However, players need to check what casinos are accepted in their state. Unlike the residents of the U.K. American players cannot play at certain geo-restricted online casinos located in unregulated jurisdictions as they don’t guarantee any safety to the players.
U.S. vs U.K. Games Selection
The iGaming in the U.S. falls behind the U.K. iGaming in game selection as well. Due to the decline in the number of top casinos that offer a wide range of games in the U.S., players are not able to access their favourite slot and table games. In fact, many of the best software providers like Casumo, Playtech, Microgaming, and Betsoft are not even available in the United States. Therefore, US players can’t access many progressive jackpot titles like Mega Moolah while UK players can play all video poker titles, table games, slots etc.
