2025 Gambling Year in Review - Part 1

For over a decade i have been breaking down the year in gambling that was with my Top 10 gambling stories in North America, both the United States and Canada. I'll start here with numbers 6-10 and come back tomorrow with the top 5 stories. 

10. The successful relaunch of Hard Rock Bets in Florida and it's implication on Tribal Casinos worldwide

One of the most followed stories of the past few years was the compact that Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed with the Seminole Tribe, which gave them exclusivity to offer sports betting in the state and also offer online casino wagering in all cities outside of Miami Dade County. Two parimutuel operations sued DeSantis after the $2.5 billion compact was signed by DeSantis. They claimed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) does not permit remote gambling and that it was unfair to offer sports betting to only the tribe, but eventually the two entities came to an agreement with the Seminoles and state in 2024, which they said was a win-win situation. This led to the Seminole Tribe relaunching Hard Rock Bets and some projections say that Hard Rock Digital could net $8 billion in the coming years. FanDuel and DraftKings were involved in the lawsuit by the parimutuels, but they have since agreed to work with the Seminole Indians to get a piece of the action.

Nevertheless, in 2025 a new lawsuit was brought against the state by a group called Protect the Constitution LLC claiming that online bets bypass voter-approved gambling laws because a 2018 amendment made it a rule that only voters via a referendum can pass any new gambling initiatives. The state asked a Leon County (Orlando area) judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

While Florida seems to be getting the issue settled, Native American tribes around the United States are closely watching the developments in Florida because the final outcome there could create a precedent for tribal gambling laws around the country. The Seneca Tribe in Western New York is in a fight with the state over plans for new casinos being developed that will not be Tribal and they want to end the revenue sharing agreement they have with Albany because the say New York violated the compact by allowing slot machines at racetracks in the area they were given exclusivity for. As well, Oklahoma is in a fight with Tribes there as some of the larger cities want to put in commercial casinos, and of course in California, Native American Tribes are holding back sports betting, online poker and other commercial endeavors claiming that any gambling expansion in California has to go through them. But infighting with the Tribes along with the horse racing industry and poker rooms has led to a standstill. Other states are also looking to develop a strategy that would allow Native American and commercial casinos to coexist as is the current situation in Michigan.

Currently there are over 530 Native American casinos in 30 states and results for fiscal year 2024, released in 2025, showed that tribal casino revenue across the country was $43.9 billion, a 4.6% growth from the same period the prior year. Spokespeople for the National Indian Gaming Commission have said this revenue is critical to supporting tribal sovereignty, job growth, infrastructure, education, and important social, health, and welfare programs in tribal communities, and as such they will fight any attempts to infringe on compacts and Tribal rights that gives them exclusivity to offer Class III gambling in many of the states.

9 – Ontario courts allowing betting on international pools

One of the biggest frustrations for Ontario bettors was the massive decline in poker room tables and the decision by FanDuel and DraftKings to drop Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) after the province went live with sports betting in 2022. One of the rules to obtain an iGaming Ontario license was that all betting had to take place in the province and unfortunately, with an adult population of only about 11 million people, there just isn’t enough players to justify continuing with a DFS market and paying licensing fees for a product that was not likely to be very successful. As for poker, Canadians became used to the always full tables at PokerStars, Party Poker and similar when they had players from around the world participating in the same games. But after the new open market started in 2022, the number of players at those sites and other poker sites like BetMGM and 888 were very small compared to before.

Consequently, in 2024 the province decided to investigate the possibility of allowing players from around the world to participate in Ontario games by sending a letter to the Ontario Court of Appeals that asked this question "Would legal online gaming and sports betting remain lawful under the Criminal Code if its users were permitted to participate in games and betting involving individuals outside of Canada? If not, to what extent?"

The court of appeals finally released their decision in 2025 and by a 4 to 1 decision said that Ontario could indeed comingle its pools with foreign jurisdictions so long as the gambling was controlled within the province by iGaming Ontario or one of its agents. This ruling has massive implications since it now provides a viable means for DraftKings, FanDuel and possibly even Underdog Fantasy to launch DFS in the province if they choose, plus it allows companies like PokerStars, Party Poker, GGPoker, 888 and BetMGM that are agents of iGaming Ontario to conduct poker games and tournaments that include bettors from Europe, Asia and possibly even the United States. The announcement could also convince other companies like Bet365 and Caesars to offer poker on its platform. For Ontario bettors the news is even better regarding DFS. When DFS was operating in Ontario, Canadian winners would often have money deducted at the source if they won since the contests were run by American companies who were required to withhold tax under U.S. law. But since the DFS contests would be operated by an agent of iGaming Ontario, there would be no withholdings, as Canadians don’t pay tax on gambling winnings.

The Ontario government’s reason for wanting to include international players, aside from the anger of some Ontario bettors who long for DFS and better poker games, is to encourage the 20% of Ontario bettors who are still wagering offshore to turn to legal markets where they can now play in contests like the Millionaire Maker and satellite poker tournaments to win a WSOP seat. And with that hindrance now lifted, the government believes companies operating offshore will now have more incentive to obtain an iGaming Ontario license.

The questions that the government now must ask themselves are the following:

·       Which jurisdictions does Ontario want to work with to allow the international players?
·       Will the other jurisdictions, including U.S. states, would be interested in comingling pools with Ontario?
·       How can Ontario control the gambling if the pool originates elsewhere, particularly since the legal gambling age changes between jurisdictions?
·       Will geolocation tools like Geoguard be able to weed out some jurisdictions and not others?
·       How can Ontario make sure they get their share of the taxes from the products?
·       Will the operators (particularly DFS) have any interest in relaunching in Ontario?

Once iGaming Ontario answers those questions it seems that Ontario will start offering DFS contests to the 2.1 million Ontario DFS players that the Fantasy Sports Association said were betting on DFS prior to 2022, and poker games and tournaments with other jurisdictions can be launched. This should make Ontario one of the best places on earth for all forms of gambling.

8 – The big decline in Las Vegas tourism and wagering

Once declared the go to spot for gambling, Las Vegas has seen a large decline in tourism and betting over the years. The city saw an unprecedented decline during Covid for obvious reasons and seemed set to gain back all the people that couldn’t visit during that time, but the return of players has been slow. During Covid many bettors discovered other ways to wager. By then many states had legalized sports betting, and in a few states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan, online casino wagering was available. This meant people in the other states could get a similar experience to Vegas without leaving home. Furthermore, resort casinos started opening leading people to play locally rather than spending the big bucks to travel to sin city. So when Covid was no longer declared an emergency and everything began to reopen, the visits to Vegas increased at a much slower method than expected. Still, the City was a major tourism destination for people around the world, but particularly for Americans and Canadians. That changed in 2025 when President Donald Trump announced large tariffs on Canada and threats of annexation to make Canada the 51st state. Canadians reacted by boycotting visits to the United States and consequently there was an almost 30% decline in visits by Canadians to the Las Vegas from the prior year. The low Canadian dollar was also a factor. In fact, the large drop in Canadian travel was noted as a major concern in earnings calls by MGM and Caesars. But it’s not just Canadians staying home. Visits by Mexican and Asian bettors to the city have plummeted as a protest to tariffs but also because they fear being detained by ICE if they don’t have the proper documentation.

The city hoped that advertising to Americans would make up the shortfall, but that hasn’t happened. Aside from the advantages of staying close to home mentioned earlier, American gamblers have started to shun Vegas because they deem it overpriced. Along with the large cost for accommodations, food and entertainment, resort fees averaging $50 a night have been a big turnoff. For $50 visitors get basic facility usage like pools, gyms, WiFi and other amenities that are free in most hotels elsewhere. Plus, if one wants to get a cabana by the pool during the summer it will cost upwards of $100 an hour and more often than not they are booked up. Construction in the city has also been a turnoff as the city has torn up streets to make way for the F1 Grand Prix and for major projects like the development of a new baseball stadium where the Tropicana hotel used to be. Many regulars who have visited Las Vegas over the years remember the cheap buffets, comps for shows and meals and free drinks, but most hotels have eliminated those and instead offer incentives to only the highest rollers who achieve enough points on a players card. A lot of old time gamblers have said that if Vegas is going to be like local resort casinos they’ll stay home. Moreover, some of the highlight attractions like The Sphere and the Las Vegas Formula One GP have been struggling to sell tickets. Tickets for groups like The Eagles at the Sphere are way out of reach for most regular visitors and the $250 price tag to watch the Wizard of Oz at The Sphere had families shaking their heads. And Formula One tickets and hotel rooms during that time are so expensive that regular visitors avoid the city during that time, leading the city to give away cheap tickets just to appear like it’s sold out for TV.

City staff note the large decrease in hotel stays where they are lucky to be three-fourths full at the busiest times of the year when in the past they would be at almost 100% capacity. And unfortunately the ramifications of the drop in tourism and wagering is showing as hotels have closed around the city and hotel layoffs are becoming the norm.  

It is expected that once 2025 is over and the numbers are added up, Las Vegas will show a 6.5% decline in both visits and revenue compared to 2024 and there is no indication that hemorrhaging will stop any time soon. That is particularly true if online casinos, prediction markets, sweepstake casinos and similar initiatives give Americans who cannot gamble in their own states a way to bet without spending the money to move to Vegas. It is indeed a dire situation and the decline of the biggest gambling mecca in the world makes this the #8 story of 2025.

7- The large increase in New York sports betting and stated plans to reduce taxes

New York legalized sports betting in 2022 and the revenue has soared each year. In 2022, when it started, New York had $16.2 billion in handle. In 2023 the handle increased to $19.2 billion. In 2024 the handle was $22.6 billion. And in 2025 the handle is expected to be over $27 billion! In fact, The Empire State saw an increase in sports wagering handle from January to October of just over $16 billion in 2024 to over $21 billion in the same period in 2025. And this is with some companies closing operations in 2024 and 2025, such as WynnBet and Resorts World Bet.

Yet despite this unprecedented growth, FanDuel still towers over other operators and no one is yet profitable in the state thanks to a crazy 51% tax on winnings. This tax was decided based on a tax matrix devised under then Governor Andrew Cuomo that decided tax based on the number of operators. There needs to be 13 operators to get the tax down to 35% and as of today there are only eight operators . . . and it could go down if a couple of operators don’t see any growth. It seems that New York has agreed to stick with the 51% based on WynnBet and Resort World’s license that netted 10 operators when the tax was implemented, even though they closed operations in the state.  Technically the tax matrix suggests a tax of 58% if there are only 8 operators, 60% if there are 7 operators, 62% if there are 6 operators and 64% if less than 6 operators! But it seems there is no appetite to approach FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, BetCaesars, BetFanatics, TheScoreBet, BetRivers and BallyBet, which currently have a licenses, demanding an increase in tax to the 58% level.

To combat the obvious crazy tax New York Senator Joseph Addabbo refiled a bill in 2025 to authorize online casino gambling. Not subjected to a tax matrix, the plan is to charge a tax of 30%, with the majority of the revenue going towards education. Addabbo said that this bill would not only generate a lot of money for the state but would also allow an avenue for the sportsbooks to actually make money to offset the losses they are incurring on sports betting as a result of the 51% tax. It’s uncertain if the current sportsbooks would get any additional incentives over casino only i-Gaming companies that would almost certainly apply for a license.

The casino bill is also deemed necessary to offset a bill by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal that is currently on the table that aims to ban in-play sports betting and other bills that look to limit bets to $5,000 in a 24-hour period. The bills were introduced as a way to combat problem gambling, but if any of those measures passed it would not be surprising to see most sportsbooks run for the exits, although it is doubtful there would be enough votes to stop the cash cow that sports betting has created in the state.

6 – The Sweepstakes ban across states

Sweepstakes casinos have come under a lot of fire for pretending not to be casinos when they in fact are the same or are at least very close to being the same thing. Sweepstake casinos offer gold coins for no reward, or the players can buy "Sweeps Coins" and the winnings from those coins can be traded in for cash or other prizes by playing slots or table games. There’s no issue with gold coins as it’s effectively play for fun casino, but winnings from Sweeps Coins can be converted into cash or gift cards, leading many states to deem this practice illegal. Although Sweeps coins cannot be bought outright (they are provided with a deposit and accumulated from game wins) most players pursue different avenues to acquire Sweeps Coins for betting at the casino, rendering the gold coins insignificant. At first only Washington and Idaho disallowed Sweepstakes casinos since all forms of online gambling are illegal there, but the similarity between real casino betting and sweepstake betting has led many states to pass laws banning them. In 2025 Connecticut, Montana, New Jersey, Nevada and Michigan passed laws to make Sweepstake casino betting illegal and California just passed Bill AB831, which will make Sweepstake casinos illegal in 2026. Moreover, 11 other states have issued cease-and-desist orders against Sweepstake casinos such as Stake.us, LoneStarCasino.com, Ace.com etc. from operating in their states.

While they are very similar to real casinos, the Sweepstakes casino websites maintain that they are perfectly legal because there is no obligation to purchase Sweeps coins and most of their players only use gold coins as a form of leisure similar to MyVegas.com and other sites that offer smaller rewards for playing and winning. They also point to things like McDonald’s Monopoly contest and other similar contests which provide prizes for ordering products or the person can get a free entry by submitting a ballot. And the Sweeps companies say they do the same so players can get Sweeps Coins without depositing a penny and that makes it legal.

Not surprisingly, states with legal casinos want them banned because they say they are infringing on real i-casino companies that pay a licensing fee and taxes on winnings to the government and those without online casino gambling want it banned because they say it violates their rules that prohibit online casino wagering.

Regardless, the attention these casino bans are receiving brings up some questions that legislators must answer. What is the difference between gambling and a contest? Why have only seven states legalized online casinos if there is a demand? And what, if anything, can states do that would allow sweepstake casinos to exist but also have them fairly compete with existing licensed online casinos? No doubt the issue is about to head to the courts and like with prediction markets, it will ultimately be the courts that decide whether Sweepstakes are betting or something else.

Check back on New Years Day 2026 for the Top 5 gambling stories in North America for the year that was 2025!

Read insights from Hartley Henderson every week here at OSGA and check out Hartley's RUMOR MILL!