American iGaming and Sports betting is on the rise with new investments and regulations – 2022 predictions

In this guest column, Kamran Hedjri, CEO of PXP Financial, which specializes in acquiring and processing services to help businesses simplify and support their global payment needs, analyzes the US sports betting and iGaming markets, and for 2022 he predicts an uptake in regulation, better technologies driven by bigger investments, and the continuation of iGaming momentum.

The iGaming and Sports Betting sector is a multi-billion-dollar industry with global reach that has found much success across Europe. Yet despite this, for the longest time it was incredibly difficult for gaming operators to run in the United States of America (U.S.) as laws and regulations limited, or outright prevented, forms of gambling. Fortunately, since 2018 regulators have slowly eased up on restrictions and this has created many opportunities for both local and foreign companies to begin operating in the region.

While there are lots of opportunities for success in the US, it is not as simple as moving into the country and setting up shop. There are several regulations still in place across all 50 US states, and gaming operators need to ensure their ability to take transactions from players is not impeded by this. The worst thing an operator can do to its player base is prevent them from being able to play, after all.

Here are some predictions for 2022:

• Prediction 1 – an uptake in regulation

While many states have been updating their regulations to make iGaming and Sports Betting legal, there are 50 states across the US and it’s unlikely that all of them will make a complete turnaround by 2022. With that said however, we do expect the turnaround from states still unsure, to happen at a much faster rate than in previous years.

This is largely down to regulations being workshopped by other states and reaching a condition where they are more acceptable to a wider council. As the hesitant US states begin to see regulations working effectively in the states that have already opened up, they will also begin to lessen restrictions. 

The process will ultimately be a lot faster as well, as these states can easily adopt what has worked elsewhere and make small amends instead of workshopping new regulations from scratch. There will be more case studies for the regional regulators to work from and this will speed up the process.

So, while we don’t expect to see all 50 states open to iGaming and Sports Betting by the end of 2022, we do expect to see a larger portion of US states adding new regulation in support of the industry than ever before. This is something any company involved in the sector needs to be ready for.

• Prediction 2 – bigger investments lead to better tech

As this sector is growing and proving to be a success, this will draw the attention of investors who will be keen to take part in supporting the growth of the industry. This will naturally result in many of its upcoming and currently key players receiving funds that will support in their growth – and one way we will see this growth take form is with new technology. 

Innovation is constantly happening across all technology sectors, payments and otherwise, and some of this technology will support in streamlining the process for players to participate in iGaming and sports betting, as well as offer new ways to play. We anticipate that a slew of new investments will lead to the adoption of several new technologies to this sector, and that in turn will lead to further investment. 

• Prediction 3 – iGaming continues to boom

Over the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry saw a huge boost in iGaming as players were forced online. Even though lockdown has subsided, and many in-person casinos have reopened, the revenue made from iGaming alone has not decreased. In fact, it has increased along with revenue across the industry as a whole and the will certainly continue its upward trajectory throughout 2022.

iGaming and Sports Betting is a thriving industry currently and has proven to be so globally for many, many years. Over the last few years, the US has been given the opportunity to experience this success and it is only going to rise further.