Ruddock Report: With 2025 On The Back Nine, A Few States Still Swinging
Maine, Massachusetts, and Ohio making particularly notable late efforts to legalize online casino
5 min
Our monthly look at the online gambling landscape includes the current legal and regulatory landscape, prospective online casino and online poker states, and significant trends to watch.
Efforts to legalize online casino gambling have encountered significant hurdles this year, but with late legislative pushes in several states, there is still a sliver of hope. Despite some momentum, however, widespread opposition, regulatory challenges, and competing gambling initiatives are bound to limit progress.
Trend to watch: (Too little too) late iCasino efforts
There are five states with active online casino bills: Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio.
Our focus, however, is on three states that are making particularly noteworthy late pushes to legalize: Maine, Massachusetts, and Ohio.
Maine
Maine has made significant progress, but what appears to be an impassable obstacle exists.
The Maine legislature sent a bill, LD 1164, sponsored by state Rep. Ambureen Rana, legalizing online casinos to the desk of Gov. Janet Mills. Despite the progress (the passage of an online casino bill by a legislature is usually front-page industry news), the expectation is a veto.
The Mills administration, the Maine Gambling Control Unit, and the Gambling Control Board testified against online casino expansion earlier this year. Gov. Mills can veto the bill outright or use a pocket veto by not signing it within the legislative deadline.
There is also a lot of industry opposition, as the bill grants online casino exclusivity to the state’s four tribes (the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Micmac) and excludes the two commercial casino operators, Penn National Gaming and Churchill Downs.
FanDuel also opposes the bill, as Caesars and DraftKings are partnered with the state’s tribes for sports betting, thereby limiting the possibility of other online casino entrants.
Massachusetts
A hearing June 23 in Massachusetts discussed numerous pieces of legislation, including two online casino bills: Sen. Paul R. Feeney’s S235 and Rep. Daniel Cahill’s H332 (you can find the details of each bill here).
The hearing featured testimony from prominent organizations, including the Sports Betting Alliance, iDEA Growth, DraftKings, FanDuel, the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG), and others. Both sides were able to make their case (in three minutes). Still, given the numerous obstacles in Massachusetts (the in-process launch of online lottery; significant pushback over responsible gambling, addiction, and operator practices following the launch of online sports betting; and Massachusetts’ typical slow approach to expanded gambling), further action in 2025 is unlikely.
Ohio
And finally, there are two efforts in Ohio: HB 298, sponsored by House Finance Committee Chair Brian Stewart, and SB 197, sponsored by Sen. Nathan Manning.
Ohio is a highly coveted state, given its population of nearly 12 million and its success in mobile sports betting, where it is among the top states by betting handle. That makes the overall lack of attention somewhat surprising. It appears the industry is strategically waiting for an end-of-session push and doesn’t want to engage in a prolonged war of words with opponents, who have come out on top in virtually every engagement.
2025 online casino bills
The Ruddock Report will revise this list as new bills are introduced.
LEGAL ONLINE GAMBLING ONLINE POKER-ONLY
ACTIVE LEGISLATION LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS FAILED
Active bills
Ohio
- HB 298, sponsored by House Finance Committee Chair Brian Stewart
- SB 197, sponsored by Sen. Nathan Manning
I’m hearing a lot of backchannel chatter about Ohio’s online casino bills. While there is some support, there is also significant opposition, including two Ohio casino operators that are members of NAAiG: JACK Entertainment and Churchill Downs. And then there is Penn Entertainment, which has lobbied against bills in 2025. And on top that there is Gov. Mike DeWine, who doesn’t seem to be a fan of gambling (given his efforts to double the sports betting tax rate in the state twice, once successfully). On iCasino specifically, DeWine has expressed concerns: “I’m not going to get into what I’m going to do yet, but I think everybody needs to understand what this is. This is just not an incremental increase in gaming.”
New York
- S 2614, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr.
New York’s annual online casino bill has been introduced, but the focus on the downstate casino licenses has overshadowed online casino efforts. The licenses aren’t expected to be awarded until the tail end of this year, at the earliest, which means there’s no room for online casinos.
Massachusetts
- HB 332, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Cahill
- SB 235, sponsored by Sen. Paul Feeney
- HD 2393, sponsored by Rep. David Muradian (text to come)
Massachusetts has multiple online casino bills, with SB 235 and HB 332 discussed (briefly) during a Massachusetts Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure hearing.
Illinois
As I wrote in my Straight to the Point newsletter, “Two online casino bills are under consideration: SB 1963, sponsored by state Sen. Cristina Castro, and HB 3080, sponsored by State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez. … The problem is, (almost) no one wants it,” evidenced by nearly 1,000 witnesses testifying against online casinos at a recent hearing. March polling from Tulchin Research indicates opponents are winning the public perception battle, as respondents overwhelmingly view iGaming as a more addictive product that will lead to increased rates of problem and underage gambling.
Maine
- LD 1164, sponsored by Rep. Ambureen Rana
This bill has been passed by the House and Senate and is on the desk of Gov. Janet Mills (who is expected to veto or pocket veto the bill).
The legislation allows each of the state’s four tribes to offer online casino gambling: Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe (with two reservations: Indian Township and Pleasant Point), and Penobscot Nation.
The bill calls for a $50,000 licensing fee and a 16% tax rate, with funds distributed as follows:
- 3%: Deposited in the Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Fund
- 3%: Deposited in the E-9-1-1 fund
- 3%: Deposited in the Opioid Use Disorder Prevention and Treatment Fund
- 2%: Deposited in the Emergency Housing Relief Fund
- 3%: Deposited in the Maine Veterans’ Homes Stabilization Fund
Inactive bills
New Hampshire
- SB 168, sponsored by Sen. Tim Lang
Despite passing the committee stage, Lang “tabled” the bill due to opposition. It can be brought back later in the session, but nothing on the ground has changed that would indicate progress is happening behind the scenes.
Arkansas
- HB 1861, sponsored by Rep. Matt Duffield
A late push came up short in Arkansas, as Rep. Duffield’s legislation was withdrawn and recommended for interim study by the House Judiciary Committee. The bill emerged late in the session (which seems to be the best way to pass a gambling expansion bill these days), and the stakeholder divide between Saracen Casino (pro) and Oaklawn (against) was too large to overcome.
Maryland
Legislation once again stalled in committee, and the absence of online casino revenue in the state’s proposed budget deal between the legislature and Gov. Wes Moore signals the end of 2025 efforts.
Virginia
A new contender in the online casino landscape, Virginia ran into similar concerns from unions and brick-and-mortar stakeholders that have plagued states like Maryland and New York. The proposed legislation failed to gain traction in either chamber, with bill sponsors pulling them and announcing they will reintroduce bills in 2026.
Wyoming
- HB 162, sponsored by Rep. Bob Davis
Efforts to legalize online casinos in Wyoming failed to gain the necessary support from the committee and are effectively dead. Despite a favorable report from Spectrum Gaming, Wyoming tribes voiced concerns that online gambling would cannibalize their brick-and-mortar properties.
Indiana
- HB 1432, sponsored by Rep. Ethan Manning
After running into opposition, including cannibalization concerns, Indiana’s annual effort to legalize online casino gambling (and online lottery sales) once again came up short. One glimmer of hope as we look ahead to 2026 is the passage of a bill prohibiting online lottery couriers, with Rep. Manning saying the goal is to allow the state lottery to start on equal footing when online lottery is legalized.
Hawaii
Separate versions of a mobile sports betting bill passed the House and Senate, with the details now being hashed out by a conference committee. The state’s online casino bills failed to gain any support.
