{"id":752265,"date":"2026-03-03T11:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/?p=752265"},"modified":"2026-03-03T11:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:12:08","slug":"us-online-casino-legalization-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/news\/casino\/us-online-casino-legalization-update\/","title":{"rendered":"US Online Casino Legalization Update: What States Are Considering Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>Each year, multiple states consider expanding gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While that has led to online sports betting to consistently grow throughout the United States, <strong>online casino expansion<\/strong> hasn&rsquo;t seen the same growth.<\/p><div class=\"\" data-freestar-ad=\"__300x250 __300x250\" id=\"sportsbettingdime_InContent_1\">\n        <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\n            freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({\n                placementName: \"sportsbettingdime_InContent_1\",\n                slotId: \"sportsbettingdime_InContent_1\"\n            });\n        <\/script>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Just seven states operate legal iGaming in the US, but multiple states have made progress toward online casino expansion in 2026, including one state that has passed legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-maine-legalizes-igaming\">Maine Legalizes iGaming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Early in 2026, Maine became the eighth state to legalize online casinos in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Maine House and Senate had approved <strong>LD 1164 <\/strong>last summer and <strong>Gov. Janet Mills<\/strong> had delayed a decision on whether to approve the bill. In January, Mills elected to let the bill pass without taking action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under this bill, the four tribes of the <strong>Wabanaki Nations<\/strong> will be allowed to provide licenses to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/online-casino\/us\/maine\/\">Maine online casino<\/a> operators. These online casinos will be <strong>taxed at 16% <\/strong>of their revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The state&rsquo;s two brick-and-mortar casinos will not be included in the iGaming expansion under this bill, which prompted the <strong>Oxford Casino Hotel<\/strong> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/news\/casino\/oxford-casino-files-lawsuit-to-block-maine-igaming\/\">file a lawsuit<\/a>, accusing the state of discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This lawsuit could potentially delay the Maine iGaming rollout. No clear timeline has been established for an official launch date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-virginia-considering-online-casino-expansion\">Virginia Considering Online Casino Expansion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The potential for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/online-casino\/us\/virginia\/\">Virginia online casinos<\/a> is as close as it has ever been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>House Bill 161<\/strong> was passed by the Virginia House of Delegates, while <strong>Senate Bill 118<\/strong> was passed by the Virginia Senate. Both would see the legalization of iGaming in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, both chambers need to come to an agreement on a single bill in order for it to be sent to <strong>Gov. Abigail Spanberger<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both bills have been tailored to look similar at this point. Each land-based casino in Virginia would be able <strong>to issue up to three online casino licenses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The state would institute a <strong>20% tax on each iGaming operator&rsquo;s adjusted gross revenue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Virginia is making progress toward iGaming legalization, both bills call for <strong>full passage by both chambers in 2026 and 2027<\/strong> in order to be advanced to the governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That means any launch of online casinos in Virginia wouldn&rsquo;t happen until at least 2028.<\/p><div class=\"\" data-freestar-ad=\"__300x250 __300x250\" id=\"sportsbettingdime_InContent_2\">\n        <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\n            freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({\n                placementName: \"sportsbettingdime_InContent_2\",\n                slotId: \"sportsbettingdime_InContent_2\"\n            });\n        <\/script>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-illinois-reintroduces-igaming-bills\">Illinois Reintroduces iGaming Bills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Legislation was introduced once again that would see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/online-casino\/us\/illinois\/\">Illinois online casinos<\/a> be legalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>House Bill 4797<\/strong> and <strong>Senate Bill 3723<\/strong> were both introduced in early February, mimicking bills introduced in 2025 that didn&rsquo;t see much traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both bills call for a <strong>25% tax rate<\/strong> on an online casino&rsquo;s adjusted gross revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be more retail-friendly, the bills prohibit the Illinois Gaming Control Board from issuing a license to any casino that has reduced the size of its workforce by 25% or more since February 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HB 4797 is with the House Rules Committee while SB 3723 is with the Assignments Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-addabbo-again-pursuing-ny-online-casino-expansion\">Addabbo Again Pursuing NY Online Casino Expansion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>New York has had a busy few months when it comes to gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In December, three downstate casino licenses were issued for the state, while a dual-currency sweepstakes ban was also issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following that, <strong>Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. <\/strong>introduced <strong>Senate Bill 2614<\/strong> to legalize New York online casinos. Assembly Bill 6027 was also introduced with the same intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bills call for a <strong>30.5% tax rate <\/strong>on operator&rsquo;s gross gaming revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Addabbo has long been a proponent of gambling expansion in New York. This is the fourth consecutive year he has introduced an iGaming bill in the state.<\/p><div class=\"\" data-freestar-ad=\"__300x250 __300x250\" id=\"sportsbettingdime_InContent_3\">\n        <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\n            freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({\n                placementName: \"sportsbettingdime_InContent_3\",\n                slotId: \"sportsbettingdime_InContent_3\"\n            });\n        <\/script>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Currently each bill is with their respective Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-maryland-sets-hearing-on-igaming\">Maryland Sets Hearing on iGaming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Another state could be looking to expand online gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maryland Senate Bill 885<\/strong> would see the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to issue licenses to qualified applicants to conduct internet gaming and online bingo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tax rates would be <strong>40% on slots and table game revenue<\/strong>, and <strong>20% on live dealer revenue.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bill is currently with the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee where a hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 11 at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still in its early stages, it provides a small glimmer of hope for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/online-casino\/us\/maryland\/\">Maryland online casinos<\/a> to be legalized.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each year, multiple states consider expanding gambling. While that has led to online sports betting to consistently grow throughout the United States, online casino expansion hasn&rsquo;t seen the same growth. Just seven states operate legal iGaming in the US, but multiple states have made progress toward online casino expansion in 2026, including one state that &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/news\/casino\/us-online-casino-legalization-update\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":46548,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"website_editions":[],"website_editions_hreflang":[],"website_editions_default_edition":"us","website_editions_htmllang":"us","content_studio_integration_article_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[219582],"tags":[219424,219428,219386,219410,219420],"content_buckets":[219595],"class_list":["post-752265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino","tag-illinois","tag-maine","tag-maryland","tag-new-york","tag-virginia","content_buckets-content-bucket-betting-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":752266,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752265\/revisions\/752266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752265"},{"taxonomy":"content_buckets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbettingdime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_buckets?post=752265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}