A lot can happen in a year. And this previous year, a lot occurred in the legal sports betting and iGaming industry - and after that some.


A referendum in Missouri, high-profile wagering scandals, and crackdowns on an offshore sportsbook and college player prop wagering are simply a few of the big stories of 2024. But there was much more.


So, to revitalize our readers' memories (along with our own), Covers chosen when again to assemble the leading stories of the year. The slow news days were scarce, as you'll soon see.


Missouri (hardly) approves mobile sports betting


Any state authorizing legal sports betting wagering is a huge deal. How Missouri did it - and what follows - makes it among the year's crucial stories.


Missouri authorized retail and mobile sportsbooks by roughly 3,000 votes out of nearly 3 million cast. This was not just the closest margin of any gaming-related step this election cycle but the closest in any state because the Supreme Court struck down the federal wagering restriction in 2018.


After evaluating the last main results of every Missouri county with more than 10,000 votes this election, I can state - officially - that the sports betting ballot procedure has kept sufficient assistance from Election Day tallies to pass; sportsbooks will go reside in MO in 2025


Missouri ended up being the 39th state to approve legalized sports betting wagering and was the only one to do so this year. The marketplace structure, which will permit upwards of a dozen mobile books as well as retail operators - plus the impassioned assistance in the Kansas City city - positions Missouri to be one of the country's more powerful per capita markets when betting begins in summer season 2025. (Ryan Butler)


Everybody dislikes sports betting wagering (well, kinda)


The sports betting wagering market had a run of criticism and extreme analysis to close out 2024, culminating in a U.S. Senate committee hearing that saw a great deal of complaints aired.


This wasn't simply one story, but many that added up throughout the year that highlighted the simmering issues and is sorry for about the service. Headlines like "Legalizing sports betting Gambling Was a Substantial Mistake" are tough to wave away.


The rough stretch for sports betting could push lawmakers and regulators to make changes in 2025 and beyond. Operators might attempt to get in front of it all by making modifications themselves.


At any rate, this was one of the biggest stories for the industry, revealing that it wasn't all great news. (Geoff Zochodne)


The Ohtani/Porter scandals


Mentioning bad press, the worlds of sports and sports betting were rocked by 2 high-profile integrity scandals in 2024 that have actually had consequences for the market.


The first involved baseball super star Shohei Ohtani, whose previous interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, pleaded guilty to criminal charges after stealing millions from the Los Angeles Dodger to pay off financial obligations owed to a prohibited sportsbook.


Big league Baseball called Ohtani "a victim of scams" and stated the matter closed. However, the event served as a tip that sports betting remains unlawful in California, and the fallout extended all the method to Las Vegas and its managed gaming industry.


The second scandal struck the NBA, which banned Jontay Porter from the league after an investigation found the former Toronto Raptor restricted his play in games for betting purposes, to name a few things. Criminal charges for Porter and his supposed co-conspirators followed.


There were effects for bettors too. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the matter raised concerns about "the types of bets offered on our games and gamers," and sportsbooks have actually given that stopped offering Unders on NBA players on two-way or 10-day contacts. (Geoff Zochodne)


The NCAA declares war on college gamer props


NCAA president Charlie Baker's quest to secure student-athletes from jerk sports betting gamblers - I'm paraphrasing - got serious traction this previous year.


The Ohio Casino Control Commission got the ball rolling by revealing openly it was thinking about and after that authorizing an NCAA request to forbid "player-specific prop bets" on college sports betting events. Louisiana, Maryland, and Vermont did the same. New Jersey legislators are contemplating legislation that would do the same.


College player prop wagering is finished in Ohio as of March 1. Matthew Schuler, executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, revealed today he authorized the NCAA's demand to prohibit such wagering. Any remaining futures should be voided by next Friday. pic.twitter.com/b9MXDJmZJE


Baker has because preceded a U.S. Senate committee to argue against college player props. Additional restrictions might be enacted, even if college gamer prop betting is only a little piece of overall sports betting.


Furthermore, the NBA and NCAA's successes in restricting certain betting markets highlight that leagues can and might seek to tinker more with what's on the menu at regulated sportsbooks. (Geoff Zochodne)


New York gambling establishments delayed - once again


The most expected East Coast casino opening in a minimum of 50 years will have to wait a while longer.


New York policymakers did not back legislation pushed by the state's biggest gaming supporters that would have sped up the licensing timeline for 3 downstate casinos. The residential or commercial properties are expected to generate billions of dollars in annual revenue (and numerous millions in taxes) in addition to licensing fees, a cash influx that will not start until the decade's second half.


Nearly all major U.S. casino operators have actually expressed interest in these licenses in the greatest possible brand-new brick-and-mortar video gaming opportunity since New Jersey permitted legal casinos in Atlantic City in the mid-1970s. MGM's Yonkers residential or commercial property and Resorts World's center in Queens are favorites to take two of the licenses, however the rest of the market is jockeying for position for a third bid somewhere else within the 5 districts.


The lengthy procedure of selecting the winning quotes was a significant story in 2024. It will be a a lot more significant development in 2025 - and possibly 2026. (Ryan Butler)


Online gambling establishments boom as brick-and-mortar decrease


2024 brought among the more pronounced shifts from in-person to digital gaming because the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all commercial casinos 4 years ago.


New Jersey, the veteran epicenter of gaming east of the Mississippi, saw iCasino earnings eclipse the overall from the nine Atlantic City gambling establishments. This shift could become much more significant when New York (lastly) opens its very first full-scale industrial casino residential or commercial properties.


In New Jersey and other recognized video gaming markets - including Nevada - brick-and-mortar video gaming earnings slipped in 2024 after seeing a spike after the COVID-19 pandemic diminished. Nevada has, for now, no iCasino choices, a hole in America's most popular gambling market that has actually ended up being more obvious as client characteristics and demographics progressively shift online.


Only 4 states have full, competitive online gambling establishment gaming markets. But with marquee markets such as Atlantic City struggling, iGaming is set to be a a lot more attracting alternative for policymakers and a crucial profits generator for betting companies. (Ryan Butler)


Ontario's iGaming model survives and prospers


It's sometimes easy to forget what Ontario, Canada's most populated province, is doing when it concerns online sports betting wagering and web gambling establishment gaming is something entirely new for the country.


Ontario is still the only province to introduce a competitive iGaming market that enables numerous private-sector operators to participate. Billions are being bet and numerous millions in income are being created through lots of operators and websites.


Nevertheless, until about halfway through 2024, Ontario's model had a legal cloud hanging over it in the type of a suit by the Quebec-based Mohawk Council of Kahnawàhke (MCK).


Some relatively big news here for online sports betting wagering and iGaming in Ontario, as it looks like a Superior Court judge has actually dismissed a legal difficulty of the province's online betting design: pic.twitter.com/tJzsuOCbAT


In May, the cloud was lifted after an Ontario judge dismissed the claim, discovering the province was applying enough control over its iGaming market to meet the "conduct and manage" limit in Canada's Criminal Code.


The ruling - and the MCK's choice not to appeal - put Ontario's iGaming model on much firmer legal ground. It likewise used motivation to any other province interested in introducing a comparable market. (Geoff Zochodne)


Alberta presses 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 show the differences in gaming in the 2 provinces.


However, in the fall, Alberta's iGaming minister stated the province was pumping the brakes on its strategies. The province chose to take more time to speak with stakeholders and collect more input before going further.


Moreover, the federal government means to present "making it possible for" legislation in the New Year to lay the groundwork for iGaming growth. While the hold-up may have dissatisfied gamers and operators, it stays simply that in the meantime - a hold-up. (Geoff Zochodne)


Prediction markets nail the election


U.S. election betting has a fascinating - and precise - history. That was shown once 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


Trump: 57%.
Harris: 43% pic.twitter.com/xQiRPE2wbO


The accuracy of the prediction markets in specific likewise gave operators ammunition against their critics. It also came as Kalshi continued to fight in court to keep providing political event agreements. That battle isn't over, and 2025 will see more legal and regulative arguments for election wagering. (Geoff Zochodne)


Illinois walkings taxes, DraftKings gets imaginative


Illinois has actually turned into one of the more robust markets for legal sports betting wagering in the U.S., however legislators tossed 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 resting. The Boston-based bookie revealed a prepare for a small surcharge on winning bets that it would enforce on gamers in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Illinois.


The coming DraftKings winning bet additional charge tax rate will vary by state, however in an example $DKNG provided in Illinois with a winning $10 bet at +100, the gambler received back $19.68 instead of $20 due to the tax. That would approximately equate to a chances shift from +100 to -104.


It was a bold move, however DraftKings reversed course after FanDuel and other competitors decreased to do the exact same.


DraftKings and others are still coming to grips with those greater tax rates, consisting of a previous hike by Ohio that is already being reevaluated and a small one being pondered by Michigan. With the 2025 legislative season looming, we'll see where legislators go next. (Geoff Zochodne)


The Bovada C&D gold mine


Bovada has actually long been commonly offered in the U.S. However, this past year, regulators from legal video gaming states found the art of letter-writing and peppered the Curacao-based sportsbook and casino with cease-and-desist demands.


As a result, Bovada's U.S. footprint has diminished. The business states it has limited access to customers in more than a dozen states. That list could grow.


The question for the New Year is if extra states will lean on Bovada and/or its offshore sportsbook brethren. The Bovada C&D blueprint may likewise give some ideas to legislators and operators that have a growing interest in sweepstakes casinos and sportsbooks. (Geoff Zochodne)


Florida sports betting's Supreme accomplishment


Like in Ontario, the sports betting status quo in Florida had some legal enigma entering into 2024. Before the year was over, those questions would be answered in a way that has guaranteed the Seminole Tribe and Hard Rock Bet remain in control in the Sunshine State.


In March, the Supreme Court of Florida tossed out an obstacle to the state's sports betting setup. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a federal legal challenge.


The two choices meant the legal monopoly over legal sports betting wagering in Florida stayed in place. Acid rock now takes pleasure in one of the most significant markets in the U.S.