20 US States Expected to Legalize Online Gambling by 2020

According to a recent report from Morgan Stanley, a financial services corporation based in New York, it is predicted that 20 US states will legalize and regulate online gambling by the end of 2020.

Morgan Stanley believes that the 20 states that will regulate iGaming will generate revenue of approximately $5.2 billion by the end of the decade. If all 50 US states decide to legalize online gambling and are included in the estimation, the Internet gambling market in the US will be worth double or about $10.7 billion.

Compared to a previous report from Morgan Stanley, the predicted revenue of $5.2 billion is lower than the projected revenue of about $8 billion. According to the report, the corporation lowered the estimated figures in order to better reflect the insights gained from the observation of the first three-month operations of the states that have already regulated iGaming, namely Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey.

Which Are the Projected 20 US States?

Morgan Stanley believes that the US state to legalize online gambling in 2015 is California and the launch of the first gambling website will take place the following year. The California Conference on Online Gaming in May already expressed its positive views about regulating online gambling in the state. The next states to join the regulated online casino and gambling industry in 2016 are Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois, while the grand opening will take place in 2017. The following year, Morgan Stanley predicts that Massachusetts, Colorado and Iowa will finally approve online gambling and invite their residents to play online casino games and other gambling products.

Afterwards, next on the line are Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, Florida and Connecticut. By the end of 2020, Morgan Stanley believes that people from Rhode Island, West Virginia, Louisiana, Missouri and Mississippi will be allowed to place online wagers.

In its report Morgan Stanley takes into consideration that there are commercial casinos as well as casinos run by Indian tribes that are currently in operation in 39 states. It is also predicted that the states that don’t have casinos would less likely legalize online gambling.

Another factor taken into consideration is that federal lawmakers will likely oppose to regulating iGaming and this will provide a sort of blanket regulation.

There Are Still Not Enough US States

The findings and figures of the report are quite plausible and interesting even though they are just estimates that may change in future. Whether 20 US states will regulate online gambling in six years is truly a matter of debate. In addition, it is a lot considering the fact that only three US states have already legalized iGaming, but it is a little when realizing that it represents only 40% of the US.

If the predictions of the report become reality, then there will be too many players in too many states that will not have the necessary protections and safeguards. In addition, the players that live in states that will enact online casino legalization are apparently in for a long waiting period.