Where did 2024 go? Wasn’t ICE’s last show in London last week?
As 2024 comes to a close, the changes in 2025 include ICE London emerging as ICE Barcelona, the Indian Gaming Association Tradeshow and Conference taking place in San Diego, California, and the SBC Summit North America and SBC Latinoamérica combining and heading to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The Global Gaming Expo 2025 returns to Las Vegas, but it couldn’t really be anywhere else.
As for other stories in the gaming industry, there have been many. CDC Gaming polled executives, experts, influencers and other gaming industry figures to examine the most impactful and important stories of 2024, and to predict what will emerge in 2025.
(part two will be published next Sunday, December 29)
Adam Greenblatt, BetMGM CEO
2024
At BetMGM, 2024 was highlighted by unprecedented casino jackpot wins that captivated players and made history. In late February, the progressive jackpot in New Jersey hit a company record of $4 million and continued to climb throughout the spring and summer. At the end of August, a player at BetMGM in New Jersey won a $6.5 million jackpot — the largest jackpot in the history of legalized online casinos in the United States up to that point. The historic jackpot showcased BetMGM’s robust progressive jackpot network and exclusive, in-house produced games by Entain.
The focus on product and player experience across the industry was, and will remain, a major story across the industry. Beyond record-setting jackpots, 2024 was a time of strategic product enhancements, streamlining user experiences and expanding our offerings. In August, BetMGM “unlocked” Nevada with the launch of a single wallet that allows users to sign up once in-person in Nevada and then carry their funds with them to other BetMGM states. Sports betting has evolved beyond spread, moneyline and totals. Player props continue to grow in popularity and BetMGM is adapting to customer preferences leaning into the integration of Angstrom, a sports pricing and analytics company acquired by co-parent company Entain. We made it easier to navigate and access built-in tools like SmartStats to give players troves of data to make informed bets. Ultimately, BetMGM offered its largest ever range of player props markets for MLB, NBA and NFL and significantly increased combinability of our parlay product.
2025
The sports betting and igaming industry in North America is poised for significant growth in 2025. The recent legalization of sports betting in Missouri represents another market with a robust base of sports teams including the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. St. Louis has been a part of MLB since its inception, and we expect the upcoming launch of sports betting to be met by a passionate and knowledgeable fanbase. North of the border, Alberta is set to launch sports betting and iGaming in 2025. BetMGM is well-positioned to capitalize on these expansion opportunities with extremely strong brand recognition and product offerings.
The industry as a whole is maturing. In the upcoming years, operators are going to further build out their gaming and entertainment ecosystem. At BetMGM, it means an integrated gambling experience that spans online sports betting, online casino, and poker. All of this while earning BetMGM Rewards Points that can be redeemed in various ways including for digital bonuses, MGM Rewards Points and Marriott Bonvoy Points.
The biggest story in 2025 and beyond is how fast operators will adapt and implement technology. Live betting continues to gain popularity, and it requires operators to optimize uptime. BetMGM has made major enhancements and remains in relentless pursuit of providing the best player experience. The year ahead will bring the next phase of unlocking Nevada and showcasing an omnichannel experience like no other.
Khalid R. Jones, Virginia Lottery Executive Director
2024
You can’t talk about sports betting in 2024 without pausing on the scandal involving the NBA’s Jontay Porter who was accused of participating with a ring of bettors placing prop bets on gameplay in which Porter himself would influence the outcome.
No doubt the exposure of this incident produced salacious headlines, but this stands out for so many reasons beyond the sheer number of articles. This story stood at the nexus of a number of important issues in the sports betting industry, including public confidence, match fixing/game integrity, collaborative efforts between leagues and regulators and the discussion of the propriety of a nationwide regulatory regime, amongst others.
Then there is the undeniable realization that there will always be a level of human imperfection in the regulatory system. The NBA’s lifetime ban of Porter demonstrated serious commitment to the integrity of not only basketball, but sports in general. Hopefully this action will serve as a future deterrent, but history suggests that it’s likely we will see another Jontay Porter figure in the future trying to beat the system.
2025
Speaking of the need for ongoing vigilance as regulators, I believe 2025 will see a sharper focus on illegal and unregulated gaming both in the online and land-based space, as we continue to see an increase of those operating outside the law. Moving forward, regulators, operators and advocacy groups alike will need to work together to present a united front. On behalf of players, regulators want to maintain the integrity of the gaming system; operators want everyone to be on an equal playing field; and community groups want to ensure that people aren’t being taken advantage of. All of these efforts combined support the broader focus on two of the most critical words in the industry today: Responsible Gaming. Rogue and unregulated operators could potentially undermine efforts with games, best practices in advertising and coordinated action that seeks to protect players.
And what would any conversation be today without discussing artificial intelligence? I think 2025 will see AI move from a cocktail party trick to much wider application in two specific areas: Game Design and Responsible Gaming. I believe we are not far off from an era where companies will set parameters to allow a player to decide what kind of game they want to play and have that game be designed right in front of their eyes – fully customizable and fully dynamic in terms of game type, colors and theme. On the responsible gaming front, we’ve already seen various applications of AI, including sophisticated predictive tools and machine learning to understand player behavior. We’ve already challenged our operators to use that same ingenuity to help players who might have struggles controlling their play. We have the technology to do it, we have the resources to do it, and I think is 2025 you will see that we also have the collective will to do it as well.
Dr. Laila Mintas, entrepreneur, strategic advisor, independent board member
2024
My take from 2024 is that it has been a year of tremendous growth for the sports betting and igaming industry. According to YieldSec, an actionable intelligence platform monitoring online marketplaces including gambling, US consumers have spent over $1 trillion USD across legal and illegal online gaming since iGaming began at scale approximately 25 years ago. Other sources estimate that in 2024 almost $150bn were bet in the legal markets alone and the trend is that the market will keep growing.
2025
Considering that some of the biggest states like Texas and California have not even legalized sports betting, 2025 will definitively be a year of growth for our industry.
A big new trend in 2024 is the rise of the casino sweepstakes that remind me of the early days of fantasy companies when they started gaining traction in the U.S. in the early 2000s and were initially viewed with skepticism by the then traditional casino industry, sports leagues, and regulators. Interestingly, we see the same skepticism by our industry today, claiming that sweepstake casinos are not legal. I think this debate will be ongoing for the following years, and certainly continue to be a hot topic in 2025.
Mike Kaplan, PayNearMe EVP, Chief Revenue Officer
2024
For 2024, the biggest story in U.S. online gaming was the rise of social sweeps. Regardless of individual opinions on sweepstakes casinos, we know this model of online gaming is incredibly popular with younger generations and the more casual player, with content and games that appeal to a broader segment of the population. I think we’ll continue to see new varieties of sweeps games emerging, increased integration between sweeps gaming and social media and a myriad of new apps hitting the market. The lack of required licensing for social sweeps has led to a significant number of new operators of all sizes entering the space. Despite the absence of formal regulation, payments providers like PayNearMe still hold our operators to high standards when it comes to AML and KYC procedures, and that doesn’t waver when it comes to sweeps.
2025
Going into 2025, we’re hearing our clients from all online gaming adjacencies talk about operational efficiencies driven by payments. We’re no longer in the Wild West period of operators racing to be first to market acquiring players at any and all costs. Operators are starting to look more closely at managing costs across their business. One area that they are looking to optimize is in lowering the total costs of accepting payments, while simultaneously driving up their acceptance rates. Finding this balance will result in the overall profitability that operators will need to stay competitive. Simplification is key to cutting costs. When operators can roll other critical pieces of the puzzle into their payment stack—like redundant processing, risk and fraud tools, and player data insights—they’ll find themselves streamlining their back office processes, thus reducing cost. We’ve integrated with partners such as Trustly, PayPal, and Accertify to do just that: help our clients do more with a single payments provider.
Brian Christopher, BC Ventures, founder, slot influencer, casino gaming content creator
2024
Online real money gaming (RMG) and sports betting have continued to spark significant interest from casino enthusiasts and my fans alike. Having the opportunity to play your favorite games from home is quite enticing, especially when done right.
Online casinos have (finally) embraced the omnichannel experience, and realized there was a need for it. I wish they could do a better job of crossing over, but they’ve made great strides over the past year. On the flipside, there have been ongoing misconceptions and false fears that RMG will hurt land-based casinos’ bottom line. It’s hogwash. It is no different than the fears some casino operators attempt to spread about losing business should they make the humane choice to make their casino floors smokefree.
Nothing will replace the experience of in-person gaming. Not now, not ever. Host players in a beautiful venue, feature it and manage it properly, and the people will come. I just wish gaming jurisdictions like Atlantic City, NJ figured out they are losing business not due to a boom in online gaming (far from it) but due to aging properties, a lackluster appeal, and the smoking that accompanies it.
2025
As you can imagine, I’d say that online gaming will continue to be on the rise. But so too, is social gaming as a whole. Social sweepstakes casinos, while being controversial to some, are in fact fully legal and booming across the country. Rather than attacking them with animosity and baseless insults due to a lack of understanding of how they have lawfully outsmarted the industry, why not learn from what they’ve done and build upon it?
Players have been doling out billions of dollars in gold coins for over a decade, so the need is clearly there to increase the offerings (and may I add, the money players spend on these apps and sites is far from impacting land-based casino revenue). These are apples and oranges. Online gaming is here to stay, and is expected to experience a boom in 2025 and beyond.
Dave Kubajak, JCM Global SVP—Sales, Marketing, and Operations
2024
From a JCM perspective, the biggest story was the one-year anniversary of ICB ASAP, our automated robotics count room solution, in operation at MotorCity Casino Hotel. This is significant because it was a collaborative effort with regulators, the property, and JCM to bring cutting-edge technology to the gaming industry. From a broader perspective, perhaps the sale of IGT and Everi to Apollo was the biggest story of 2024 because it encompassed two large manufacturers purchased and merged under the Apollo umbrella, which owns and operates large casinos across North America.
2025
The global industry is undergoing an exciting period of growth with new legislation allowing for new or expanding markets around the world, including Southeast Asia (Thailand), South America (Brazil), Africa (Nigeria and Ghana), and the Middle East (UAE). Each of these areas will be interesting to watch in 2025 and the years to come, and JCM will continue providing our leading product.
Tashina Lazcano, Konami Gaming Director of Marketing & Communications
2024
My pick for the industry’s top story of the year comes from the American Gaming Association’s annual State of the States report, where it estimated the U.S. gaming industry revenue likely increased by 40% from 2019 to 2023, with tribal and commercial sectors combined. The figure is monumental, and a credit to growth across sports betting, igaming, and traditional land-based gaming.
In his coverage of the report, CDC Gaming’s Buddy Frank explained how the American Gaming Association’s research primarily centers on commercial gaming, but also includes tribal sector data by way of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Across all sectors, this level of revenue growth provides the perfect opportunity to evaluate and invest in company technology infrastructure, to help ensure systems are equipped to capitalize on future growth cycles. As CDC Gaming Senior Analyst Ken Adams shared in his March 2024 commentary on the industry’s pandemic recovery, “Those businesses that prosper in the future will need financing and imagination to adapt; 2024 and beyond will not be like the pre-2020 era.”
Recent industry success has afforded the opportunity to invest in future technology and innovation. The kinds of innovation we pursue should likely be focused on competing in an attention economy. Consumer attention is a limited resource, and with streaming video and social media at the tap of a finger, competition to occupy it has never been higher. Gaming technology that advances digital player convenience, personalization, engagement, and, as CDC’s John Brokopp pointed out, instant gratification, is central to capitalizing on the next season of growth.
2025
The top story of 2025 will surround raising the tax reporting threshold on slot winnings. In 2024, CDC Gaming covered important movements on the measure, including the release of an IRS Advisory Council opinion in favor of raising the reporting limit and bi-partisan efforts by Nevada Congressperson Dina Titus to pass the bill through Congress. Raising the threshold would save consumers, operators, and the IRS from a significant burden in servicing/maintaining the $1,200 reporting limit that has been in place since 1977. Should the IRS move to raise the threshold in 2025, it would be a huge story—impacting a wide breadth of stakeholders, companies, and individuals as they look ahead to realization.
Jonathan Michaels, Founder and Principal, Michaels Strategies
2024
The stagnating growth of the land-based commercial casino industry is the most significant development in the industry in 2024. While the industry overall is up 8% year-over-year through Q3 according to the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, land-based commercial entities are only up 0.4%. The regulated digital gaming verticals of sports betting and online casino have been the drivers of growth, with those two segments up nearly 30% from 2023 totals. Nowhere is this channel shift more prominent than New Jersey where in October, online casinos generated higher revenues than the land-based casinos in Atlantic City for the first time ever.
2025
How land-based casinos deal with slower growth. Since COVID casino reopenings in 2021, these properties have performed whincredibly well. But now is the time where executives need to get creative about how to get those businesses back on a growth trajectory. That could be increased investments in innovations on the gaming floor – be that newer games, focus on more profitable games, elimination of smoking, or even things like enabling things like digital payments on the gaming floor. This shift will also require operators to really develop through their digital strategy. I think we will see an increased push for online casino at the state level and operators will keenly watch how the social sweepstakes fight will play out, with the potential for regulated operators to move into the space should regulators and attorneys general affirm the games to be legal and legitimate. This need for growth will also jumpstart the next phase of M&A activity within the space, as operators will need to make investments to implement these digital strategies.
Keith Scott Whyte, National Council on Problem Gambling Executive Director
2024
I think the most impactful story in 2024 was the investigation by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission into how sports betting companies make decisions to bonus or limit players. Underlying that discussion is the question of how much data gambling companies collect on players, their behavior and their finances, and whether it is being used more to exploit or more to protect players?
2025
For 2025 the story is going to be the first Congressional hearings on gambling in a decade or so. Don’t know when or even what topic, but I’m hearing there are more and more questions from members in both chambers and both parties.
Hillary McAfee, social media marketing and brand consultant
2024
A standout marketing move in 2024 was DraftKings’ long-term ambassadorship with gaming influencer Vegas Matt. Influencer campaigns typically deliver $5 in ROI for every $1 spent, making this a high-impact strategy for the brand. Later in the year, BetMGM followed with a similar ambassadorship featuring Brian Christopher, signaling their awareness for how successful these are and following suit to engage audiences in an authentic, results-driven way.
2025
In 2025, igaming will lead the charge in shaping the future of gaming marketing, setting a benchmark that land-based casinos can’t ignore. With AI-driven personalization, gamified content, and immersive experiences powered by VR and AR, igaming brands are redefining how players engage. Platforms like YouTube and Twitch will dominate the conversation with younger audiences, while innovations like crypto payments and blockchain-backed transparency will establish new standards for trust and tech-forward play.
Gary Larkin, Koin President
In 2024, Koin made a significant leap forward in transforming cashless solutions for the gaming industry. Our launch of Koin Pay empowered patrons to seamlessly fund gameplay and make retail purchases across multiple properties with a single account, eliminating the need for separate wallets at every destination. This not only enhanced player convenience it has lowered costs and is providing operators with rich data insights to drive customer retention and loyalty.
Looking to 2025, we are excited to begin rolling out a series of innovative enhancements to our platform scheduled for release in early Q2. This will expand Koin’s overall capabilities further, integrating day-to-day spending activities with specific resort spend and advancing patron gaming/entertainment experiences with smarter AI-driven features. At Koin, we are committed to staying ahead of the game, consistently finding innovative ways to enhance both the player journey and operator efficiency.”
Helen Walton, Gluck Gaming Founder and Chief Commercial Officer
2024
Suppliers are speeding up the rate of supply with more games than ever before launched and studios popping up daily (and being hoovered up fast by bigger ones keen to tie them into their own ecosystems). The increasing quantity of slots is squeezing margins and meaning skins and copies proliferate even further. Regulatory changes are also driving down RTP in many markets – in spite of the fact that this makes .com operators more attractive to savvier players.
Yet at the same time, this increasing pressure means operators are asking for more ‘features’ that might encourage stickiness – whether social, localised jackpots or exclusivity and bespoke elements to give players a reason to stay loyal. There are lots of experiments being run – very few of which really impact on core game mechanics. None of these have yet brought a breakthrough success – games that have briefly blazed an exciting trail have died away to be replaced by old favorites still dominating the top positions.
2025
Multiplayer slots. It is the zeitgeist that everyone is talking about, but no one has yet cracked. For all the reasons given above, many studios (and operators) are experimenting with ‘play along side’; ‘play together’ and ‘play against’ styles of multiplayer game. At G we are betting the farm (and the animals, and the farm equipment come to that) on our own completely crazy version of multiplayer which will launch in 2025. Even if we fail, we will have shown what is possible – so hubris or not, true competitive multiplayer slots will be the most significant development of next year.
