Boyd Gaming operates an internet casino in Pennsylvania where the company also owns the Valley Forge Casino in King of Prussia.

A company executive told a group of state lawmakers last week the online presence has helped grow business at Valley Forge, which draws customers from neighboring Philadelphia.

“Bridging the [internet and land-based gaming] together is a big part of our strategy moving forward,” Boyd Senior Vice President Blake Rampmaier said during a panel discussion at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), which held its winter meeting at Resorts World Las Vegas.

“We have not seen a degradation of revenue in our brick and mortar [casino]. Customers that are playing online are still coming to our Pennsylvania property in full force,” Rampmaier added. “If anything, we see [the online casino] as an additional revenue stream.”

When asked, however, about the potential for online casino gaming in Nevada, Rampmaier called the state “an anomaly.” He echoed remarks made earlier this year by Boyd CEO Keith Smith that “additional conversations” are going to be needed to allow any expansion of online casinos.

“I don’t have a silver bullet answer for you on that,” Rampmaier said. “I think they need to have those conversations.”

Nevada has confined internet gaming to just poker since 2013. The market, which once had four operators, has shrunk to just Caesars Entertainment’s World Series of Poker brand.

Nevada, which is a member of the NCLGS, did not have any representatives attend the conference.

Several smaller Nevada casino operators, along with Red Rock Resorts, oppose the expansion of online gaming beyond the current model. Smith predicted it could take up to eight years for Nevada to legalize online casino gaming.

That hasn’t stopped Boyd, however, from growing its online gaming presence. In November, the company closed on its $170 million purchase of Pala Interactive, a Toronto-based company that has two revenue streams: a business that provides an online gaming platform to casino operators in legal markets, and an online casino site the company operates in New Jersey.

Rampmaier said Boyd would migrate its online business to the Pala platform early next year. He was also hopeful the company could expand online gaming to include the nine other regional states where Boyd operates commercial casinos.

But that effort will require movement on the legislative front.

Online casino gaming is legal in six states – New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Delaware, West Virginia and Connecticut.

In a separate presentation at NCLGS, Howard Glaser, global head of government affairs for Las Vegas-based gaming equipment provider Light & Wonder, said he expects to see online gaming legislation introduced next year in New York, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, with legislation possibly on the table in Maryland, Ohio, Colorado, Louisiana and Kansas.

“States that look best for adoption in 2023 include Indiana and New York,” Glaser said. “Both states have strong legislative champions and are likely to be the next to go online.”

In August, Light & Wonder commissioned a study that found an expansion of legal online casinos to all 42 states with land-based casinos or mobile sports betting could produce annual revenue of more than $30 billion, with tax revenue of $6.35 billion.

According to the American Gaming Association, online gaming revenue in the first nine months of 2022 was more than $3.6 billion, a 38 percent increase from a year ago.

Glaser said it was “a matter of when, not if,” legal online gaming expands in the U.S.

“The handful of existing iGaming states have proven the success of the iGaming model and the combined land-based/online revenue growth outstrips anything we have ever seen in the gaming space,” he said.